Tunes for a Wednesday offwork after dental treatment

Been a while since I talked about tunes... and in that time there has been a ton of new stuff released / found / sourced etc.

First off... I picked up In Rainbows by Radiohead when the site went live and I have to say... I love it. I have avoided Radiohead for a long time... but thought I'd check them out... and it worked. I'm now a big fan. The soundscapes created on the album are refreshingly unique... melding guitars, rock beats and electronic ambience.

Fav tracks included Bodysnatchers [a fab piece of post-rock with some great and catchy guitar work] / weird fishes/arpeggi [beautiful, clean guitars over a tremendous breakbeat] and all i need [ambient electronica with a downtempo beat, fat bassline and some really truthful, heartfelt vocals. Lovely.]

I love this album and intend... on the back of it... to buy up their back catalogue. Their download experiment worked for me... and, in case you are wondering, I downloaded it for free... and intend to buy the album when it is finally released.

I used to be a big Bob Dylan but kind of lost him in all the electronica and post-rock nonsense of recent days. I like his voice... and the poetry of his lyrics. He has a number of fab songs to his credit. Saved is an unusual album... The second in a trilogy of "Christian" albums that he released in the late 70s and early 80s... between slow train coming and shot of love.

I like it. It makes for good driving music. Saved is pretty explicit evangelical theology... over a fab bluesy rock backing. Covenant Woman is more acoustic guitar, piano and organ... downtempo rather than the rock of the previous track... with some great lyrics :

I've been broken, shattered like an empty cup.
I'm just waiting on the Lord to rebuild and fill me up
And I know He will do it 'cause He's faithful and He's true,
He must have loved me so much to send me someone as fine as you.

And I just got to tell you
I do intend
To stay closer than any friend.
I just got to thank you
Once again
For making your prayers known
Unto heaven for me
And to you, always, so grateful
I will forever be.

Covenant woman, intimate little girl
Who knows those most secret things of me that are hidden from the world.
You know we are strangers in a land we're passing through.
I'll always be right by your side, I've got a covenant too.

A truly beautiful song... loving in so many ways.

Although I don't get all the evangelical references, I would recommend this album... rock music from a Christian... rather than Christian rock music. Powerful.

In the words of Monty Python... and now for something completely different... trcutu by makunouchi bento is out there! Experimental ambient electronica sampling and evolving some familiar classical compositions... Here's the skinny:

This latest offering from Makunouchi Bento is a special one indeed - interpretation of and sound excursion into a few of their favorite classical compositions by such powerful and original composers as Erik Satie, Anton Arensky, Maurice Ravel., they hold nothing back while adapting them within the Mabento realm.

With its twists of melancholy, nostalgia, and even childlike amusement - Trcutu manages to hold onto a genuine historical and aesthetic interest found within some of the originals. At times picking up the melodies and running them through the spontaneity and textural styles of their own; while at others working not just from the originals but the influence and atmosphere felt by listening to them.

Interesting... and worthwhile. Lots of samples and soundscapes take the familiar into unfamiliar places. A free download from a new-to-me netlabel called one...

as is Vitoru... again from MaBento. This is harder... more dissonant but still worthwhile. Beautiful soundscapes juxtaposed against "speak and spell" samples... melody jostling against found sounds and stereophonic nonsense. Very Aphex Twin albeit more downbeat. Here's they skinny on this ep:

This experimental ep was made for the Romanian `zine INCEPEM, issue 3 (september) with FUTURE set as the theme. Makunouchi Bento (or mabento for short) developed it following the speculation that digital music technology is increasingly moving forwards with their attempts at recreating analog warmth and real world modeling (instruments, ambience/room, the recreation of previous mediums, etcs).

This paradox is approached in a variety of ways here; sometimes through atmosphere, others through tube emulation and so on. Even with this concept in mind the emotive influence on the artist remains and Vitoru posseses the ability to place a listener in a familiar state of being in an unfamiliar surrounding (aside from the humorous and rhythmic opening of "rhybot").

Nice.

A release from one of my fav netlabels :: Sutemos :: is always a good thing... Their 19th release Intelligent Toys 4 is another awesome compilation of the finest in glitchy ambient electronica and a fine addition to the Toys series. Tracks from the likes of IJO, maps and diagrams, syntaks, and sleepy town manufacture all hit the spot... with a few acoustic guitar moments in there too to provide some new direction and additional flavour. Very, very good!

Here's what they say on the subject:

So here it is - long awaited and much anticipated fourth volume of our Intelligent Toys.

After releasing each part of this series we don't know whether we are going to make another one. Simply because it seems that we can't beat it. But then we do. Again and again. And we still don't know if we going to make another one. For the same reason.

This time we prepared almost two and half hours of gorgeous music. We won't discuss any of the artists because you know them really well already (and if you don't we'll leave the joy of discovery for you). As usual, we recommend you playing around and choosing the right toys for your mood, your character and weather in your city.

Much has been said before. Much will be left unsaid. It's listening time now.

It is listening time... words can only say so much... download it for free and soak it up.

What I love about a Sutemos release is the artwork that goes with it... check out the folder within the zip file for some fab graphics. A nice detail.

Lastly... while we are on the subject of netlabels... I was honoured to receive a CD-r from Cousin Silas with a number of unreleased tracks and fuller mixes. I am loving it... and I have to say I am excited. He is exploring in Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and Redshift space with bass-driven rhythms and synths... as well as making some of the most engrossing ambient music I have heard for a while. The full version of The first landing (all 30 mins of it) is truly awesome... bring pictures in my mind of a ship landing and the passenger exploring the foreign, alien landscape. I love music that I can contextualise... and this is some of the best.

Check out his myspace page for excerpts.

Some good music out there... get out there and explore!

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