what am i missing here?

Here is another excellent record that came out on Miasmah this year, Simon Scott - Bunny.

http://open.spotify.com/album/1j6JIHfObqs66ItB9jp1hr

Cambridge-based Simon Scott might still be best known for his tenure as the backbone of influential shoegazers Slowdive, but after his debut solo effort 'Navigare' in 2009, he showed that there was far more to his oeuvre than people might have thought. With an ease and fluidity that eschews the usual trappings of the genre, he injected Slowdive's free-flowing bliss into the kind of blackened soundscapes the Miasmah label has made its calling card and gave the sound a rich, multi-layered quality that was effortlessly enticing. 'Bunny' is Scott's sophomore long player, and sees the multi-instrumentalist growing in confidence as he takes on a plethora of themes and ideas and distills them into a coherent, well-defined narrative.

The overall premise of the record is apparent from the very beginning, and might surprise some with its inspired take on the blackened jazz and smokey Americana heard in 'Paris, Texas' or 'Mulholland Dr.'. It would do Scott a disservice to simply label the music as 'Lynchian' however, his success is to treat the layers of instrumentation (drums, guitars, cello, synthesizers) with a masterful fluidity, allowing the influences to melt into a delicate and delectable whole. There is an underlying surreal seam however, which erupts through ever part of 'Bunny', beginning with its very odd title. The juxtaposition of the pitch-black humour gives an unnerving mood to the tracks which only emphasizes the blues-flecked dread of the record itself. Occasionally Scott acknowledges his shoegazing past, nudging the sound towards the blurred haze of his former band, but even these moments are cavernous enough for us to imagine them oozing from a Midwestern jukebox in an abandoned suburban diner. 'Bunny' is an ambitious and daring journey for an artist who refuses to stay still; and it might just be the best road trip you've never taken…

yeah dude, that new remix album looks stellar, as well as the DVD. she's brilliant.

k, what else you listening too this year? have you heard the Kreng album? well into that as well. fucking dark.

This ultra low-key release may come as a surprise to those of you who know Stephen Molyneux best as a member of Nashville free noise/art collective Horsehair Everywhere, but I think it’s among the most fascinating music he’s ever produced. Made up of two extended field recordings he made during his time flitting between Thailand and Cambodia in 2010, it’s the kind of music that creeps under your skin without you ever noticing it.

With ‘Cambodian Field Recordings’, Molyneux presents to us two collages that are quaint and decidedly ‘local’ in feel; like sneak-peaks into traditional Cambodian village life. Above and amongst the everyday hustle and bustle, the snatches of conversation, the crowing of roosters and the sputter of run-down motorbike engines float religious chants and snaking horns, drums, bells and shakers. There is a feeling of relaxed happiness present that must have provided great relief to Molyneux who found himself in a foreign country during times of huge political upheaval. For me the tape provides the feeling of being lost in some kind of picture-book oasis (maybe this is what Molyneux had been expecting to find all along?) and to bring these sounds home must have given him far more pleasure than any number of photographs.

Without wanting to sound sappy, the first time ‘Cambodian Field Recordings’ really struck me was one evening when it floated out into the garden as I watered the plants. So right did it seem to hear these sounds as I enjoyed the warm dusk air and the heady smell of roses that for a few seconds I closed my eyes and imagined I was somewhere else altogether. I thought of Brian Eno and his sleevenotes to ‘On Land’ in which he describes his time in Ghana. Of an evening he would hold his microphone in the air to “pick up the widest possible catchment of ambient sounds.” This technique, he wrote, “cluster[ed] all the disparate sounds into one aural frame [and] they became music.”

In this respect ‘Cambodian Field Recordings’ is classic ambient music at its very purest. You won’t find yourself playing it over and over in an attempt to decipher its hidden layers and meanings but just let it drift; let it seep into your conscience like neroli on the air and you will be richly rewarded.

Riioraa/Viime Talvi is an epic double tape masterwork from the Finnish duo of Olli and his girlfriend Iiris. They put together some very impressive weird folk samplings. Olli’s most frequent technique for unleashing his creativity is to flip through his tapes and records for sounds that interest him. He pieces together everything that catches his attention, and in so doing has compared himself to a hip-hop producer. His most common setup is a portable turntable that is connected to a sampler and an analog 4-track-recorder. What results is pure magic. He effortlessly pulls a rabbit out of a hat every time.

Even though there’s some sounds that are clearly piano, guitar, and field recordings, none of it is originally sourced by these two artists themselves. Everything is sampled. A track could take up to a year to complete or could get thrown together fairly quickly. I can’t imagine trying to put one of these tracks together myself, so I give props that this couple has an ear for each track’s potential. Everything sounds so deliberate and exquisitely crafted that I don’t doubt that they invest the time into perfecting each one. I’ve heard their process described as threading and looming, and that’s exactly what they do. They sew together a tapestry of well-matched threads that tie together both handsome audible design and beautiful musical pattern. They are truly master weavers of sonic grace and style. I can’t emphasize enough how complexly simple and refreshingly breathtaking these two tapes are. This release is as naturally easy to listen to as air is to breathe.

I can’t decide which tape I like more. Do I have to make up my mind? I just think that everything that this duo has made is essential, necessary, vital, indispensable, crucial, required, needed, obligatory…well, you get the point. Both of these were released as CD-Rs back in 2009, by the way. Here’s your second chance. Other than the material on these two tapes, they only have a couple of other releases. So, getting a double tape release will get you pretty well started on these two artists. Each tape is pro-dubbed and imprinted and comes in a different solid color, one orange and one green. Sweat Lodge Guru must be very proud to have been given the opportunity to release this. Only 100 made.

'The Capital' is the second vinyl release by ascending drone-star Sean McCann, proffered by Belgium's Aguirre Records (home to releases by Brother Raven, Caboladies, and Red Electric Rainbow among others). It falls very comfortably under the canopy of modern Kosmische/Synth noise also explored by Bee Mask, Emeralds or Fabric, but there's a few unique elements to McCann's music which set him apart. Violins figure quite prominently throughout, adding an extra layer of dissonance quite unique to his sound and lending a wholesome, grounded texture while simultaneously hinting at a majestically skyward vision. They're infused with spiraling synth plumes and chest-opening, post-rock levels of ecstasy and moments of desolate, alien solitude over the A-side, while the other side involves a wider palette of instrumentation. First of two longer pieces, 'This Was Nearly Mine' folds lo-fi field recordings with his folksy fiddle and stray, meandering keys in an mind-warping pressure system lasting nine minutes. 'Swoon' is calmer, more symphonic, where multi-tracked strings layer up and circle each other like languid birds caught in an updraft while choral voices chant and lure us into an increasingly lysergic arrangement.

Still my number one for the year:


Sean McCann - The Capital. This dude is headed for great things in my opinion.



Download here:

Buy here: http://www.discogs.com/Sean-McCann-The-Capital/release/2662727

this sounds interesting, thanks man.

Sublime Frequencies peer through the brief window of Pakistani folk and pop produced between 1966-76 on their latest expedition. The album's compiler, Stuart Ellis trawled the EMI Pakistan archives to pluck out 22 joyfully charming and unique fusions of "filmi", folk and pop music with electrified instrumentation which was new to the region in 1966. To put this music in context we need to consider that prior to '66 Pakistan was subject to a restrictive decade-long dictatorship under Field Marshal Ayub Khan, He was succeeded for ten years by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's Socialist Pakistan Peoples Party during which time American and English pop covers became popular in the Karachi nightlife, spawning a generation of bands with names like The Mods, The Bugs, The Fore Thoughts and The Abstracts, all of whom appear here playing a mixture of Surf and psyche-tinged rock with predominant traces of traditional folk and popular film music. This revolution ended when Sharia law was imposed under Military Chief General Zia-ul-Haq in June 1977, and so with it the end of Pakistan's "Swinging '70s". Thankfully we still have this record of the period which should be recommended to anyone who nabbed the Tafo Brothers or Sound of Wonder issues on Finder Keepers or with a passion for truly niche '70s pop.

also, Atlas Sound have created the best album so far in 2011.

Check ur PM in a few minutes, Mark.

I've been unsuccessful in tracking down a working link here or on the net for this. If anyone has one they'd like to share, I would appreciate it. Thanks

I just bought this, if Yail doesn't come thru, lemme know.

this is also highly recommended.

A Winged Victory for the Sullen – A Winged Victory for the Sullen - 2011



Boomkat: We were always going to dig a band called 'A Winged Victory For The Sullen', but we’re pleased to find that their music's actually very special too. It's a collaboration between composer Dustin O'Halloran and Stars Of The Lid's Adam Wiltzie, bolstered by contributions from Hildur Gudnadottir and Peter Broderick, and if you're familiar of the past work of all these sizeable talents then you'll have an idea of what to expect from the album: richly emotive chamber music with a supremely advanced grasp of space and atmosphere. 'We Played Some Open Chords' is the arresting opener, piano and string reverberations melting together imperceptibly before your very ears; 'Requiem For The Static King' is a fittingly beautiful elegy for the late Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, and sure enough it seems to tremble with its own terrible sense of loss. We can't think of many albums of recent times that have so skilfully balanced droning minimalism with open, expressive melody; the results are completely bewitching, swelling to a near-symphonic climax in 'Steep Hills Of Vicodin Tears'. This is a grief-stricken album, make no mistake, but the sheer artistry at work makes it a resoundingly uplifting listen.