Fun Stuff > BAND
The "wink wink" Thread 2010: This Time It's Personal
KvP:
Eil R / Conr - Beneath Mix 2
--- Quote ---Beneath Mix 2 comes from two DJs out of Manchester, Eil R and Conr, both taking up a side on a (limited edition, natch) cassette tape for extended, contiguous mixes. The choice of cassette for the format is both odd and natural. I was expecting what normally graces cassette runs these days - modern classical and drone pieces, and of course the 80's nostalgia of "chillwave" music, but Beneath Mix 2, while eclectic, is rooted firmly in the confines of "mainstream" (as in, not strictly experimental) electronic music. The sound quality suffers somewhat but the hiss of the tape and the muted bass give the mixes a lived-in feel (artists in other genres, notably rapper Buck 65, have used the sound limitations of the cassette quite creatively) that compliments the live, one-take mixing very nicely.
Side A belongs to Eil R, and while it starts off fairly oddly, with what sounds like a movie clip of a woman speechifying about Jihad, the mix soon enough finds it footing in bass-heavy techno workouts (though you can't feel the bass very well given the medium) and stays in the groove pretty consistently. Throughout the side there are excursions into Jungle and acid house, and the surprise appearance of Autechre's remix of The Black Dog's "Tunnels ov Set".
Side B varies things up a little bit more, as Conr goes abroad for influences and draws from more popular contemporary dance genres. The oddly affecting intro was the first time I had heard the ramshackle afro-dance movement dubbed "Shangaan Electro", and from there Conr explores the borderlands between techno, Chicago Juke and modern UK bass music. Peverelist's "Fighting Without Fighting" (from the Better Ways of Living single) and Ramadanman's "Work Them", both b-sides from popular 12s, are put back to back, and later on a fascinating pitch-shifted remix of Addison Groove's Juke-indebted "Footcrab" (Conr's own?) shows up. The only niggling problem seems to be intermittent insertion of Brainfeeder-esque "wonky" beats. This might just be because I'm not a big fan of that movement, but it still feels a little sloppy, even if that's the point.
Overall, Beneath Mix 2 is a bewitching little lo-fi dance mix that's just as suited to home listening as a dancefloor. Probably more suited to it, all things considered. It's also a welcome respite from the ultra-polished megamixes that crowd the marketplace these days. The handmade feel of the mix is refreshing. There are apparently only 50 of these cassettes in existence but Boomkat somehow still manages to keep them in stock. Go get one! The packaging is all handmade and worth the price.
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KvP:
Solar Bears - Inner Sunshine EP
--- Quote ---When an artist is said to "push boundaries" with their music, oftentimes it is due more to the fact that a reviewer doesn't actually know where the artist is going with it than it is due to the artist's actual success in breaking down barriers and exploring sounds you wouldn't normally expect to blend in a palatable way. The artist that can bounce between musical mindsets within the space of a single album in a satisfactory way seems to be pretty rare. Rarer still is the artist that can engage more than one mode of music in the same song.
The Irish duo Solar Bears is the most recent initiate into that scantly populated latter fraternity. Their debut album, She Was Coloured In, has been garnering a significant amount of buzz from P4k, XLR8R and elsewhere. The early scuttlebutt was that they were akin to an Irish Boards of Canada, and the snippets of music that Planet Mu offered up on its site seemed to back up that notion. Boards of Canada's output is without a doubt the very best of the late 90's / early '00s wave of IDM artists, and their warm, organic groove remains to this day a very handy jumping-off point for anyone interested in exploring electronic music beyond the confines of house and techno. Their sound has been quite hard to replicate, and many have tried. That the BoC comparison was bandied about so readily promised great things from Solar Bears.
Upon the release of their inaugural Inner Sunshine EP for Planet Mu, however, the comparison proves to be a bit premature. The band's sonic debt to Boards is apparent, but from the first track it becomes clear that Solar Bears have far greater ambitions than a faithful recreation of its influences. Opener "Trans Waterfall" establishes the pattern early on - while Solar Bears share with BoC a certain fondness for the epic sound of classic soundtrack music (Morricone, etc.) they also have a deep abiding interest in live instrumentation. The bass guitar and live drumming cleanly establish the Solar Bears sound. Like so many up-and-coming electronic artists these days, Solar Bears have been influenced by the krautrock and library music of the 70's as much as anything else. The kicker comes three minutes into "Trans Waterfall", when the song abruptly turns into a Summery, vaguely hippie-like acoustic guitar jam, complete with canned flutes.
This technique of abruptly changing the style of a song halfway through it is one that Solar Bears comes back to throughout the EP. "Photo Negative Living" starts out with sustained organ tones, promising a spacey Campfire Headphase-y pastoral jam, but the introduction of similarly hazy guitar and bass takes the song in a new direction. When listening I couldn't help but think that the tone and feel of the music was strongly reminiscent of Zero 7's first two albums. On the one hand, I loved those records and thought they were about perfect for Summer listening, even as they were largely derivative of Air. On the other hand, I was hesitant to make the comparison because it certainly feels like Solar Bears are aiming a bit higher than downtempo comfort food music. While I was fretting over this, Solar Bears switched up the music again, churning out a squall of electric guitar and over-the-top rock drumming in the last minute of the song.
So in the span of two tracks, Solar Bears have managed to touch on BoC's translucent IDM, classic soundtrack music, downtempo chill-out music, and shoegaze-y post rock. It's all rather impressive, especially considering how well it all flows together. The third (and title) track is less adventurous largely due to its length. "Inner Sunshine" is just over a minute and a half of mournful, sleepy Campfire Headphase electronica, and it's immensely satisfying for anyone who's been waiting impatiently for the last 4 years for new Boards of Canada music. "Kill On" starts off as an awfully pretty little folk song with delicately plucked guitar and understated synth (perhaps it betrays my lack of worldliness that I can't tell if that other plucked instrument is another guitar or a harpsichord) before going into yet another Ulrich Schnauss-y bout of muscular post-rock.
The EP closes out with two remixes. Usually with new Planet Mu signs, debut EPs are loaded with remixes from the label's own stable of like-minded artists, but for Inner Sunshine, the band and label head Mike Paradinas looked outside the confines of the label to find sympatico remixers in Lone and Letherette, both UK electronic artists of the distinctly post-BoC variety (I wrote a little bit about Lone's latest album Ecstasy and Friends in January), both remixing songs from Solar Bears' upcoming LP. Letherette's remix of "Crystalline (Be Again)" brings the speed and pitch of the song up just a notch and swaps out the song's vaguely disco-oriented leanings for some light electro-funk, complete with wooshing laser synths and a clopping, danceable beat. Lone's remix of "Twin Stars" is more distinctive, bringing his trademark tight synth arps and uptempo drum programming to the fore, with a delicious vintage BoC synth line and a more relaxed feel in the back half of the song.
The bad news with this EP (and this band in general) is that if you're so desperate for new Boards that you're looking for a replacement until they step back up to the plate again, Solar Bears will only fitfully serve your purposes. The good news is that it doesn't even really make sense to talk about Solar Bears in relation to that venerable group - they have, from the very start, endeavoured to carve out their own sonic niche, one that, when you really listen to it, only bears a passing resemblance to the sun-kissed IDM of the Scottish duo. Solar Bears' debut LP comes out next month and it's already shot to the top of my most-anticipated list for the year, and if it's as consistent as this EP it will be a shoe-in for best album of the year. Mike Paradinas really struck gold with this one. Can't wait to hear more.
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De_El:
I completely love the phrase "sonic debt." I actually saw it coming in your review a few sentences before I got to it and got really excited.
JD:
The Thermals - Personal Life[2010](320kb/s)
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I Don't Believe You
Catacombs:
So the Thermals are pretty good? They get a lot of mentions on this thread & that video was pretty good, so I'll check out the album.
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