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Other Music Digital Affiliate Program We are very excited to be launching our new Affiliate Program. You can earn money by sending your web traffic to Other Music Digital for downloads. Click here for more details. This Week's Free Song Download
Free song download of "Saracen," the first single off Xeno & Oaklander's forthcoming album Sentinelle, out November 1st on Wierd Records. Working with all analog synths, the minimal coldwave that Miss Liz Wendelbo and Martial Canterel's Sean McBride create here is not of this time, the A-side recalling early OMD (and just as good) and sounding like an icy, romantic gem that could have been found on the So Young but So Cold compilation. Non-album B-side, "The Shot, The Fall," also available for $1.11. This Week's Featured Downloads
Based out of the supposedly culturally bankrupt city of Tulsa, Brad Rose's startlingly good imprint has grown considerably over the last half-decade. Harnessing the underground's desire for the weirder, wilder and more limited, Rose has given the braying minions exactly what they wanted with a seemingly constant stream of limited edition cassettes, CD-Rs, vinyl and gloriously packaged compact discs. Jumping haphazardly from one genre to the next, the label's common thread has always been the high quality of its signings, and this small but perfectly formed sampler is an appropriate taster of what Digitalis has in store for us this fall. We begin with a rambunctious rawkin' number from San Francisco band Barn Owl, which instantly throws us into the harder side of the label. With a thinly veiled love for G'n'R, it's no surprise that Rose has been quick to embrace the more metallic tendencies of some of his artists, but Barn Owl manage to restrain themselves from ever descending into balls-out rock or tired doom dirges. Next up is Concern with the shimmering, ambient bliss of "Young Birth," a gorgeous piece that gives a porthole into the label's more sentimental side. This is further explored on "Tried," a track from the world beating Taradiddle LP from Scott Tuma & Mike Weis. Through a cloud of distant hum, Tuma's stringed instruments play foil to his hazy organ and piano melodies while Zelienople drummer Weis allows his percussion to sink into the spine tingling atmosphere. To round up the compilation we are catapulted into thick, percussive lo-fi noise courtesy of Social Junk. Taking the current penchant for all things Factory Records and giving it a grim lo-fidelity twist, the band pounds through eleven minutes with an enviable attitude and attention to detail. So we have five fantastic cuts nipped from the catalog of one of my favorite imprints... what are you waiting for? -John Twells
I'll come clean right now -- Broadcast are a band that are more than simply a little bit important, they're a band that absolutely changed my life. They changed the way I thought about music; coming from my Midlands enclave listening to indie rock and extreme metal, hearing a local group make such sublime music was a shocking and awe-inspiring experience. Roj Stevens was a member of the band's original (pre-Tender Buttons) lineup, and being the keyboardist he made up a good proportion of their initial synthesizer and sample-heavy sound. The library music-indebted early EPs and singles are still for me the most important of Broadcast's career, and it's no surprise to hear that on his own Stevens has gone back to this dusty sound. Hardly surprising either is that Stevens (under his given name Roj) should find a home on Ghost Box, the self-appointed home of "hauntology." The Transactional Dharma of Roj is Stevens' debut album, and like the Radiophonic Workshop records he has so much admiration for, it is a sprawling collection of tracks long and short, ranging from abstract modern dances to spine tingling drones. Every part of the album sounds as if it could have been recorded in the mid to late 1960s, and the attention to detail is more than admirable. Just as the tracks on Broadcast's Work and Non-Work had a lounging authenticity to them, Stevens has conjured up the magic of 60s library music without losing anything in the process. Unlike so many people attempting to re-create this very particular sound, there is a sense that Stevens has really immersed himself in it, and he manages to keep the album deftly engaging while skating through styles at a breakneck pace. It's not easy listening either; where Broadcast's early work was filtered through a gauzy Gallic smokescreen, here Stevens allows himself to truly experiment, playing with tape loops and flirting with musique concrete in the process. Sure, Broadcast might be tempting the column inches with their new EP and imminent tour, but to ignore The Transactional Dharma of Roj would be a huge mistake -- you might just be missing out on one of the year's most sparkling gems. A remarkable record. -John Twells
The almost forgotten world of grime gets a much-needed jump-start with Gremlinz, a staggeringly funky collection in which 18 of Terror Danjah's tracks are stripped of the vocals, allowing the British producer to take center stage. These productions were created between 2003 and 2009, and you can definitely trace TD's development of ideas, techniques and colors. Like Pharrell/ Neptunes or Timbaland, Danjah's sonic stamp comes from working with a small library of sounds and tricks. His minimal icy funk can also be compared to fellow UK producer Wiley, and like all of the aforementioned, they share a clever MO; as the album progresses, your ears adapt to the repetition of sounds and overall 140 bpm tempo, the melody fluctuating, one moment coming from the bassline, the next, some weird sample or synth. This is simple, funky dance music, its vibe always changing, from alien and futuristic to dramatic and sinister, to playful. Call it music for comic books, arcades, handhelds, or Play Stations, from pirate radio to the top of the pops, this is the sound of London, 2009. Just wait until to you get to the track "Planet Shock," where he freaks the hip-hop classic "Planet Rock" into a killer re-edit filled with laser beams, cheering crowds and lots of sonic bombs. And then a few cuts later comes "Limbo," which kicks off with a barrage of synths all filtered and smeared, and when the beat drops you can almost imagine this to be a remix of Janet Jackson or Ciara. I haven't heard anything quite like it ever, futuristic digital dance music at its finest. --Daniel Givens
Surely you remember the Dodos' Visiter, from 2008. Me too. It was one of the few records of the past couple of years that actually deserved the "Sounds Like the New David Byrne" or "Takes African Music and Makes it Digestible for American Ears" stickers that got slapped on more than a handful bands. Instead of letting melodies or layers of effects do the driving, Meric Long and Logan Kroeber built every song around propulsive drumming and a couple of intertwining guitar lines, not to mention the sing/shout harmonies that were charming without being smarmy. They paid their respects to West African Ewe drumming and proved it on record, too, not just as a genre name-drop in a radio interview. The follow-up, Time to Die, is more like a sequel to Visiter -- a continuation of the mature, measured songwriting that sets the Dodos apart from your average pop group, with some new characters to fall in love with on the way. Kroeber and Long still exchange guitar and percussion duties with equal fervor and exuberance, and newbie Keaton Snyder accents the intricate guitar arrangements with tumbling vibraphone rhythms. Their emphasis on hypnotic, polyrhythmic drumming recalls Deerhoof's Greg Saunier, without the spazzy fireworks explosions, but the Dodos as a whole are much more closely related to Aloha, another proggy, psychedelically-inclined American group that often features vibraphones and driving percussion. The wonderful thing about the band is that they challenge you to categorize or link them to anything else happening in the world of pop music at the moment. While Time to Die isn't as revelatory as Visiter, its highpoints (Standout single "Fables" and the hyper-folk of "This Is a Business") are very high, and the production from Phil Elk (of Built to Spill and Band of Horses fame) keeps the atmosphere open, inviting, and exciting. Here's to hoping that the Dodos never die. -Michael Stasiak
Finnish weirdos Paavoharju have never made it easy to penetrate their icy world, yet somehow the underground music elite have found it in themselves to elevate the collective to near god-like status. It's surprising but deserved as the band's two full-lengths are pinnacles of the really very good Fonal label, skating through genres like Tonya Harding through a suburban ice rink. The "Minä ja kapteeni / Onni" seven-inch is released on the band's own Helmi Levyt label and shows a marked shift in style since the hiccupping pop of their last album. These two tracks seem more personal and more folk-focused somehow, sounding almost as if they were made at the tail end of the 1970s -- all tape recorded and effortlessly radio-friendly. Okay, so they're singing in Finnish, but before long you'll be humming the refrains and inventing your own lyrics. Almost predictably great music. -John Twells
You've probably already read a couple of my other reviews about this '60s and '70s Motown session player but I'm a huge fan and wanted to make sure that this stellar collection didn't get passed over. For a quick refresher, Dave Hamilton had a small imprint in Detroit, and many of his recordings either languished unreleased in his vaults, or were released in such small quantities that they never could be heard outside of the Motor City. Here we get eight tracks culled from his instrumental funk album from '68, Detroit City Grooves, a record that never made it much further than the mastering plant. This music has been described as "acid-lounge-funk," and it's a very apt summary to say the least. The acid descriptor is justified by the dirty, Dennis Coffey-styled fuzz off "Tell Your Mama," "Can You Dig It" and "Brother Ratt," while the lounge sound manifests itself in Hamilton's layered vibes as well as his smooth jazz guitar playing, which is reminiscent of Wes Montgomery and early, Verve-era George Benson. Of course, the breakbeat junkies will get their funky fix with all the head-snapping drums. The album is rounded out by five additional tracks culled from the same sessions, which includes both sides of Hamilton's instrumental 45, "Blue Funk," and the smokin' "Cracklin' Bread." For those who prefer their funk raw and gritty to the bone, this one's for you. -Duane Harriott
Taylor Deupree's 12k label continue their incredible run of releases with this sophomore effort from Australian duo Solo Andata. Originally signed to the now defunct Hefty label, the band have shifted subtly from making gauzy electro-acoustics to creating much darker, more affecting compositions. There is an element of modern classical to their work, but it is pushed beneath a gaseous layer of synthesized sounds and field recording. Crunches, rattles and screeches sit on top of layered harmonies that sink their claws into you, rarely letting you struggle free. There is an undeniably humid atmosphere to the record, an almost swamp-like setting that brings to mind the dark soundscapes of Deaf Center or early Biosphere, but Solo Andata give their own spin to the proceedings. Their music has elements of hope lodged in between the darkness somewhere or other, and in that hope is a startling beauty. Unlike the many overtly beautiful ambient/electronic records that are bobbing their heads above water at the moment, this self-titled album is all the richer for keeping its cards close to its chest.
As if we weren't lucky enough already, there's also a special companion EP available containing exclusive remixes from Ryuichi Sakamoto and Giuseppe Ielasi. Unsurprisingly, Sakamoto's offering is the most ineffably warming track on offer, skeletally rhythmic string sequences are layered over the cloudy harmonics of the original track. The resulting composition is delicate and incredibly subtle, rising and falling through the smoke and fog of the Aussie duo's synthesis. Fellow 12k man Giuseppe Ielasi's mix is also rewarding, offering a more choppy take on the original track and adding layers of acoustic guitar to give the track an almost Books-like feel. Gorgeous. -John Twells |
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