d'incise - capharnaüm

.:: This 5 tracks album of swiss artist D'incise shows, in an eclectic and coherent way, the universes and atmospheres he evolved in during spring and summer 2007.

With inspiration and experiences ranging from almost ambient improvisations to musique concrete, passing through free noise and abstract audio-acoustic experiments, and his use of sounds from daily life or more special occasions (including a culture of rats neurons), D'incise offers three quarters of dense and sometimes frightening avant-garde music.

D'incise is a member of the audioactivity collective from geneva. in 2002 he starded to produce different kinds of electronic music, from dub to electronica, dangerously sliding to the more experimental ways of electroacoustic.

His world is made with sound fractures, nevralgic crepitations, melancolic atmospheres and a non-dissimulated fascination for rust and faded rhythms.

download: d'incise - capharnaüm

paavoharju - tuote-akatemia / unien savonlinna ep

.:: Finnish psych folk masters Paavoharju delivers here a brand new EP of diversity. Not more than half a year has gone since their astounding debut album "Yha hamaraaa" on the finnish Fonal label.

With tracks ranging from mystery folk, lofi avant-funk & experimental vocalscapes.. or well, its impossible to label it in a single genre.

With a swarm of people contributing on an assorted amount of instrumentation & vocals, you cannot but fall in love with the magnetic world of Paavoharju. Also including a live version of Yha hamaraaas track "Kuljin kauas".

download: paavoharju - tuote-akatemia / unien savonlinna ep

muhr - we are dissolved

.:: Five tracks in all comprising sampled instrumentation, field recordings and carefully layered sound synthesis. A conceptual follow up to his release at Miasmah.

Muhr has once again managed to deliver a beautifully sparse and organic sound that is becoming very much his own… look forward to hearing more from this canadian guy in the near future!

download: muhr - we are dissolved

bernier & trottier - objet abandonné en mer

.:: The “Objet abandonne en Mer”-EP consists of four tracks with the title track being sub-divided in parts one to three. Opener “Harmattan” starts with a loop of rhythmically ordered glitches. Two entangled layers of acoustic guitar burst in, the slide-guitar rises and invokes an intense feeling of being lost.

Bow and synthesizer replace the slide until an acoustic guitar introduces a simple Folk-melody. “Objet abandonne en Mer” is dominated by diverse field-recordings and crackling glitches. The feeling of being lost created in the first song is altered to a vague idea of rolling with the waves.

The electro-acoustic cacophony of the introduction gives rise to a calm guitar melody. For the end, a thousand small Herzog-style guitars arise and consume the spectrum 'till single tones and chords begin to establish on top.

The third track opens with a nice Blues-motive on electric guitar and Nicolas' trademark noises. The initial melody disappears in reverb while a diffuse second layer gains contour beneath the surface.

Just before the 1.000 Hours of Staring-similarity become too evident, a firm and catchy guitar emerges to make you hum along. Something like the album's dramaturgic peak. “Bourrasque” afterwards is the final tune.

Mainly made of Simon's wonderful guitars, the songs starts with a lot of them piled up efficiently. After all, one singular Folk-melody survives just to drown in the sound of seagulls, oceanic hissing, noise and the distance echoes of Nicolas' and Simon's voices. More than just intriguing.

download: bernier & trottier - objet abandonné en mer

konntinent - all lines lead in

.:: It is always a pleasure to introduce a new name to the site, and Konntinent is no exception. Hailing from London, Konntinent (also known as Antony Harrison) arrives in true style with a four track EP of hauntingly beautiful soundscapes.

'All lines lead in' is a wholly remarkable EP, particularly striking is Konntinent's ability to weave a story into his music - the EP conveys a very definite feeling of beginning, middle and end, visiting upon eerie and unsettling amalgams of strings and field recordings, to incredibly delicate melodies picked out on guitar.

The tracks build out of static and lost radio frequencies into shimmering, hazy pieces of blissful music, hanging in the air like some delicate mist before disappearing on the next wave of hum and white noise.

On repeated listens, it is fascinating how quickly Konntinent's own unique sound becomes apparent - music that is seemingly familiar quickly establishes itself as being very unique. The more you listen the more there is to uncover, and that for me makes this a true gem, not to be overlooked.


download: konntinent - all lines lead in

my first trumpet - frerk

.:: Kevin "ClickClickDecker" Hamann is showing a slightly different side of his musical life. As "My first trumpet" he is enjoying a new freedom, not known from his many other projects. Quite hard to put into a certain genre, the album FRERK combines a couple of modern styles, all under the melody tree.

FRERK is a bedroom- and first trial production, never losing its beauty for melodic moments

.:: The album is absolutely astonishing. Kevin is a man with an undoubtedly feel for melodies and striking Pop sensibility. The LP is made of 14 scribbled songs, none of them processed more than necessary. Clever Indiepop-tracks like "Digital Contact", "Eat Some Beaf Chief", "Max B." and "Dipl. Link" work at first try and last for weeks.

One-man band Hamann plays guitars, drums, synthesizers, glockenspiel and one hundred instruments more. Tracks "Happy Plingi" or "Muerz" show up with a poppy Postrock-approach, not unlike Mice Parade. Other tunes will make you think of the Postal Service or New York City's Ratatat. Hmmm...

The CDr is limited to 100 copies. It contains the brand new boni "Im Wald" and "Halbe Liter". Kevin will sell the CDs at his concerts, but the only chance to get them online is here.

The delightful artwork was crafted by Aerotone top-designer meedchen. The sleeves look fantastic! Only to celebrate this album, Sven Swift recently thought of a new kind of package.


download: my first trumpet - frerk

eyvind kang - athlantis

.:: What if the entire history of Western Christian mysticism, William Blake, plainsong, Tantum Ergo, polyphony, Renaissance dance, Baroque, German Romanticism, Gamelan, South Indian classical, Japanese folk song, Icelandic chill-out, Olivier Messiaen, Alva Noto, microtonalism, Samuel Barber, Daniel Lanois without the cheese, Native American, Appalachian, Scottish folk, North African Berber, Nu-pop, ambient drone, Minimalism, Industrial, beat poetry, cosmic consciousness, post-rock, Toronto Indie Apocalypse, Van Dyke Parks, chamber jazz, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Gustav Holst, The Beach Boys, Sun Ra, Eric Satie, Heitor Villa Lobos, Phillip Glass, and New Music sensibilities were all to be assimilated, processed, deconstructed, and retrieved in one enormous, death-defyingly gorgeous, show-stoppingly virtuosic yet eminently listenable and instantly accessible disc?

That's a pitiful attempt to capture in words what is going on in this absolutely astounding album, certainly a landmark, a watershed in the history of recorded music. Just the shear scope of the soundscape boggles the mind. A basic six-piece unit (Michael White, violin; Mike Patton, voice, electronics; Tim Young, electric guitar; Tucker Martine, live sound processing; Evan Schiller sound movements; and Evyind Kang, violin and composer) is augmented by a sixteen-piece orchestra featuring woodwinds, brass, strings, acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards, accordion, percussion, and drums.

Kang has written some absolutely mesmeric compositions featuring all of the styles noted in the first paragraph, which are then arranged and played in a most compelling and beguiling manner. Certainly the inclusion of such noted sound manipulators as Patton, Schiller, and Martine contribute greatly to the sweep and grandeur of the musical palette. But perhaps the most salient fact about this disc is that it is a live recording, albeit, thankfully, with none of the annoying audience interruptions that all too frequently accompany such undertakings.


download: eyvind kang - athlantis

from: soundless-space.blogspot.com (thanx)

plaistow - los criminales reciclados en conductores de autobuses

.:: Plaistow Trio's music goes through all extremes. Sometimes close to silence, sounds and gestures slackened, we get near an idea of calm and contemplative meditation.

The feeling to be able to compose with a slow progress of time. And then, at some point, a kind of anger is given voice, just like in a brief scratch or in a long howling. Here forms are neglected, there is a will to get out of style and decency, a will to adopt an attitude both offhanded and intense.


download: plaistow - los criminales reciclados en conductores de autobuses

jóhann jóhannsson - virðulegu forsetar

.:: This is Johann's second album for Touch, after the highly acclaimed 'Englabörn'. 'Virthulegu forsetar' contains one hour-long piece for 11 brass players, percussion, electronics, organs and piano. It's presented as an ordinary stereo CD and as a DVD-Audio with a high resolution 5.1 surround mix.

The piece had its live debut in Hallgrimskirkja, a large church in Reykjavik and the city's towering edifice, and was named "the most memorable musical event of 2003" in Iceland's leading newspaper.

The piece has 'Englabörn's' quiet, elegiac beauty, but abandons the brevity of the first album's exquisite miniatures in favor of an extended form that reveals a long, slow process. A simple theme played by the brass section is repeated throughout the entire piece using different voicings and instrumentation.

As the piece goes on, the tempo slows down, until it is extremely slow. Around the middle of the piece, the tempo starts to speed up again, until it reaches the original tempo.

'Virthulegu forsetar' is performed by the Caput Ensemble, conducted by Gudni Franzson, with Skuli Sverrison on bass and electronics, Matthias M.D. Hemstock on bells, glockenspiel and electronics, Hordur Bragason and Gudmundur Sigurdsson on organs and Johann Johannsson on piano and electronics.


download: jóhann jóhannsson - virðulegu forsetar

pass: ultimovicio

chris and thomas - land of sea

.:: With sounds gathered from the landscapes of the American Southwest, chris and thomas' music could just as easily find its home in the rainy hills of the early 1970's English countryside.

Combining American roots instrumentation with soothing vocal harmonies, the duo’s rustic sounds and heartfelt songs are filled with thoughtful lyricism, harkening back to the likes of Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and the Beatles.

Chris and thomas became close friends at the historic art school in Liverpool where John Lennon and Paul McCartney had met up decades before. During their student years they found themselves in the bohemian surrounds of a group of painters, sculptors, renegades, holy men and metaphysical explorers who had made up much of Liverpool’s underground.

They played the drunken Irish pubs till the sun shone and they sang for the Queen while they earned music degrees in film composition.


.:: “The combination of unconventional lyrics, expert harmonies and traditional instruments works well… chris and thomas emerge as artists to keep your eye on.” – Performing Songwriter

“This acoustic folk-and-mandolin vocal duo reminds critics of Nick Drake and even Bob Dylan.” – NPR All Songs Considered


download: chris and thomas - land of sea

pass: indie-ground.blogspot.com

david bazan - fewer moving parts

.:: Known for his work fronting the enigmatic rock band Pedro the Lion, David Bazan’s emotionally charged narratives, eye for telling detail, and mournful voice have more in common with J.D. Salinger's "Nine Stories" or Flannery O'Connor's "Wise Blood" than with the usual lyrical slant of popular music. Bazan is a gifted storyteller, weaving parables of spiritual conflict, suburban ennui, and personal surrender into magnetic, well-crafted songs.

Bazan’s solo debut EP fewer moving parts finds the beloved Seattle songwriter roaring back to his creative roots, performing and recording everything himself in his home studio, while still expanding his sonic canvas. His signature songwriting, voice, and melodies are framed in layered harmonies, multi-tracked guitars, analog keyboards, and intricate production. The 10-song EP presents five new Bazan songs, each recorded in both stripped-down acoustic and full instrumentation forms.

Bazan is currently on tour opening for Ben Gibbard and plans to hit the road again this fall for a headlining tour of the US. After wrapping up the tour, Bazan will head into the studio where we will begin work on a new full-length record, tentatively scheduled for an early 2008 release.


download: david bazan - fewer moving parts

pass: indie-ground.blogspot.com

hem - funnel cloud

.:: Hem's third studio album, Funnel Cloud , features songs of such carefully crafted, dream-like beauty that it's almost impossible to place exactly where they've come from or even in what era they might have been recorded. You can hear a subtle country twang, the storytelling simplicity of great folk music, a touch of Tin Pan Alley sophistication.

They at times recall the emotionally stirring sweep of movie music from an age when the best pictures were shot in Cinemascope and orchestras crowded onto sound stages to perform the scores. These tunes are so immediately involving, sometimes so soothingly familiar, that you'll insist you know them - and love them - already. Hem exists very much in the here and now, but always manages to evoke the timeless.

Funnel Cloud is Hem's most lushly orchestrated work, yet it's also the group's most pop-oriented effort. The immediate standout is "Not California," a compelling tale of displaced lovers that was already featured earlier this year on NPR's All Songs Considered . Heart-tugging verses glide into an instantly memorable chorus, and it all builds to a gorgeous, string-laden finale.

"Too Late To Turn Back Now" has an early-seventies country-rock feel; its background strings recall the brilliant charts that legendary arranger Paul Buckmaster created for Tumbleweed Connection-period Elton John. "The Pills Stopped Working" is a mid-album showstopper, a rollicking number featuring honky-tonk piano, wailing harmonica, gospel-like vocal harmonies from guest singers Amy Helm of Ollabelle and former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha, and a soaring horn section. Says Ellyson, "We're experimenting and having fun and you can hear that on the record."

The majority of material on Funnel Cloud moves at an elegant slow-dance tempo, all of it held together by Ellyson's miraculous voice. She has the pristine, comforting quality of a singer from a classic animated Disney movie, yet the stories she tells can be as disquieting as David Lynch's Blue Velvet , in which unimaginable dangers lurk behind a bright, primary-color façade.

For example, over the subtly portentous arrangement of the title track, Ellyson gently describes the moment before a pastoral scene is obliterated by a tornado: "Over the horizon, the same thing every day/Until a painted backdrop rises up and blows a world away."

download: hem - funnel cloud

pass: indie-ground.blogspot.com