A CLOSER LISTEN weekly #64
A CLOSER LISTEN weekly #64
Ukrainian Field Notes, New Releases, Reviews, and more
Dear Listeners, Joseph here back in Montreal for the time being. Luckily Y2K 2.0 didn’t disrupt my travel but I’m exhausted, so will keep this preamble short. Firstly, thanks to our new subscribers, paid and otherwise. Whether you’re just joining us or have been with us since the beginning, we’re happy to have you listening with us. I’ve recently been trying to release more content in-between these regular digests and my series Out of the Box. I hope you’ve been enjoying these archival pulls and extra writing, and I’ll have a bunch more coming throughout August. Sometime earlier this year I started including occasional “Mini-Reviews” in these digests, basically new releases I’ve been listening to and enjoying that I’d probably want to write more about if I had the time, but because I never seem to find the time, want to make sure they get a little shine. I’ve started keeping notes for this purpose in my phone, and the list got pretty out of hand in the last month, so I’m gonna include eight below and eight next time, instead of just doing them once per month. We’ve also got ten picks from our Recent Reviews, and as always the most extensive Upcoming Release list for weirdos anywhere on the internet. But first, Gianmarco Del Re returns for his monthly series Ukrainian Field Notes. Happy Listening.
Ukrainian Field Notes XXXV
For episode XXXV of UFN we chat to Ihor Zavhorodnii about cultural survival, we discuss hybrid moments with Béllis, reflect on being stuck between two worlds with La_Fanette and delve into noise with Christ Vs Diablo.
New releases include albums by Koloah, Difference Machine, Andrii Kunin, NFNR, 18uah, Alexander Stratonov, Bogdan Zaiets, Yevhenii Loi, панич and XTCLVR.
In our Viewing Room, we have a discussion on drones, videos by Ship Her Son and Andrii Kunin and the Kamikaze Drones Original Documentary Series (with English subtitles).
But to begin with our podcast for Resonance FM where we talk to Ostap Manulyak about musicians composing on the warfront and the multicultural music heritage of Ukraine.
Tracklist:
* Ostap Manulyak – “Aeolian processes” [Fragment]
* Myroslav Trofymuk – “Місто” [The City] [excerpt]
* Dallek – “Arpeggio Disorder”
* “Unspeakable Weight” – A multichannel audiovisual installation by Andriy Linik, Ostap Manuliak, Yurii Vovkohon, Yevhenia Nesterovych, based on the Yevhen Hulevych’s recordings
* Edgard Varese – “Ionisation” [excerpt]
* Ostap Manulyak – “Reprogression” (Fragment 2)
* Alla Zagaykevych – “Mithe IV: K.S.” [excerpt]
* Valentin Silvestrov – Maidan Requiem – Cycle IV – “Prayer For Ukraine”
Mini-Reviews
Short highlights
August Fanon x iLL.Sugi ~ KANAGAWAYORK
A new beat tape from August Fanon (representing NY) and ill.Sugi (representing Kanagawa, Japan), as the title suggests this is a joint effort. I’m a big fan of the former’s work with Armand Hammer, Vic Spencer, Mach-Hommy, Navy Blue and others. I’m less familiar with the latter, but the prolific Japanese producer has worked with Bugseed, another producer whose work I always enjoy, and this collab doesn’t disappoint.
Charles Gayle / Milford Graves / William Parker ~ WEBO
The latest installment of the Black Editions Archive drawn from the late Graves personal tape library, and what a sweet surprise it is. Gayle (tenor), Graves (drums, vocals), and Parker (bass), three titans of free jazz, only performed as a trio seven times between 1985 and 2013, and no recordings of their meeting had been released until now. While I’m unconvinced that this 1991 live recording to cassette necessitated “audiophile vinyl,” I’m sure glad these concerts can finally be heard.
Ludwig Berger ~ Garden of Ediacara
This suite of ‘eco-fiction’ from the Swiss field-recordings and landscape sound artist manifests speculative ecosystems and experimental narrative techniques. The track titles, written by Daisy Lafarge, suggest a poetic encapsulation of the project’s orientation towards interconnection, growth, and extinction.
KRM & KMRU ~ Disconnect
PTP’s RESIST COLONIAL POWER BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY compilation tipped us off on this collaboration between Kevin Richard Martin (The Bug, Techno Animal, King Midas Sound) and Joseph Kamaru (KMRU), and Disconnect doesn’t disappoint.
MosEl ~ sufi Sama chapter Infinity
I first remember encountering MosEl on Quelle Chris and Jean Grae’s excellent Everything’s Fine (2018,) and I’ve checked for new work from him ever since. Released on the 4th of July, this self-described '“Sufi ceremony performed as part of the meditation and prayer practice” offered some much needed space for contemplation and relief.
Previous Industries ~ Service Merchandise
Open Mike Eagle, Video Dave, and STILL RIFT—three former Chicago rappers living in LA—began working together more frequently during the pandemic, and the trio appear on several tracks on Eagle’s a tape called component system with the auto reverse (2022). The trio had enough chemistry to justify the establishment of Previous Industries. Like the title, all the tracks are named after now-defunct stores. With beats from Child Actor, Quelle Chris, and Smoke Bonito and features from Quelle and Queen Herawin of The Juggaknots, hopefully Service Merchandise will have a longer shelf life than its namesake.
Romeo Poirier ~ Plage Arrière
Repress alert for this slept on 2016 classic, with 30 vinyl copies still available. Originally a tape, the Brussels-based musician, photographer and lifeguard fused strings and electronics for a hallucinogenic ode to Greek beaches.
Tomoko Sauvage ~ In the Liquid Amber Within the Ivory Porcelain
A digital only release for GRM Portraits series, as certain phase relations between sounds being incompatible with vinyl. All of Tomoko Sauvage’s work pass through my ears, but this formal note made me especially interested to check out In the Liquid Amber, which is a fixed-media work fixed-media work originally intended to be performed on INA-GRM’s Acousmonium.
RECENT REVIEWS
Reviews are at the heart of ACL. Here are selections from a few of my favorite reviews we posted on the blog in the last few weeks.
Anoice ~ Stories in White
Anoice‘s The Black Rain was one of the first albums we ever reviewed, way back in the winter of 2012. It went on to be named as one of our Best Albums of the Decade. A sequel, Ghost in the Clocks, arrived seven years later. Finally, after another half-decade, Stories in White completes the trilogy. The album’s only hope is found in implication. Should one choose, one might hear tricycle wheels in the closing track, turning slowly before the rain arrives. By ending the set in an “eclipse,” Anoice reminds listeners that people once thought an eclipse was the end of the world, when it was only a momentary darkness. Let’s hope this parable applies to humanity as well.
Arrowounds ~ Burial Trances of the Tentacled Set
For over a year, we’ve been enjoying the installments of Arrowounds’ Therianthrope Series as they’ve been released; the initial installment even appeared on our Best Album Covers list. Now that the entire project is available as a four-CD box set, one last piece has been revealed: the subscriber-only initiative Burial Trances of the Tentacled Set. The album ~ in fact, the quadrilogy ~ takes its time, as if it is walking through a wood of shrouded wonders. The Lovecraftian angle is hard to ignore, but as dark as the project gets, it never topples into horror. When the guitar reemerges in “Harbinger,” it operates like a guide: one who knows these woods, and is eager to light the way. “Benthied Anomalies” exudes a deep, centered calm, shifting from tempo to tendril in its final phases. After this groundwork, when the darkness begins to enter again, the listener is no longer afraid; one has acclimated to the shadows, and can saunter through even a graveyard without fear. The closing “Portesar,” named after the oldest megalithic monument in the world, is like a revelation breaking through: others worshipped before us, way before us, and maybe there were octopoid creatures here after all.
estle ~ It’s Always Been You / galen tipton & Holly Waxwing ~ keepsakeFM
After releasing three singles in the past three years, Toronto’s Estle is finally getting ready to release their debut album. It’s Always Been You starts in ambience and ends in beats, tracing the path of a romance, as indicted in the title. The album is light and breezy, a happy occasion featuring multiple guests, including two – Galen Tipton and Holly Waxwing – who are releasing their own album August 9, also on Orange Milk, including a guest appearance from Estle. Other guest stars appear on both releases as well. We feel that it would be unfair to separate the two, as these albums are such natural soulmates; the only slight adjustment we’ve made is to capitalize these artists’ names in the review, as they alternate between caps and non-caps on the releases themselves. These works represent a slight tonal shift for label, who calls the collective “the next generation of Orange Milk favorites.” We’re looking forward to hearing more of their shared efforts, imagining them as one big happy family, dancing through the night and into the day.
Kessoncoda ~ Outerstate
Outerstate offers an aural illusion. Even though we know there are only two members of Kessoncoda, Tom Sunney and Filip Sowa sound like a full band ~ occasionally drawing comparison to label mates GoGo Penguin, with a languid combination of jazz, modern composition and rock. It’s no wonder that the first track is titled “The Sum of All the Parts,” as this is exactly what the album represents. The (non-drum) percussion is introduced first, then light, wordless vocals, then pounding drums and rapid-fire ivories, and finally electronic keyboards. We suspect there may be some looping involved, as there’s no way all these instruments are being played simultaneously.
KMRU ~ Natur
Which city is louder: Nairobi or Berlin? The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is Nairobi. A relocation from one city to the other inspired KMRU to start thinking about the differences in his environments, such as the difference between wearing shoes and going shoeless, or the wide night sky over one location obscured by light pollution in the next. Crucially for a recording artist, the two homes sounded different. On Natur he seeks to capture the contrasts of dueling biophanies.
Lilacs & Champagne ~ Fantasy World
Perhaps the largest difference between this album and others in its general category is that few of these samples are familiar; this prevents passages from jutting out. A more common technique is to layer passages that the common listener already knows, creating the excitement of recognition. Instead, Fantasy World sounds much more like composition, even when parts are stitched together. And what a monster it is: like stumbling upon an unpublished scores to a slasher film, a noir crime drama and a children’s TV program and deciding to play them all at once. Melodies bubble to the surface, then sink; a thick fog descends on the album, dissipating only for brief segments at a time. “Melissa” starts like a Hawaiian vacation, the band’s lounge roots excavated; but ends in ghostly, supernatural noises. “No More Sherry,” cleaning up after “Evil,” exudes a chill summer vibe.
Perrache ~ Blubberwasser
While the Ceremony of Seasons series is paired with bottles of wine, Perrache‘s Blubberwasser begs to be paired with steins of beer or any sparkling beverage. The German title refers to effervescing drinks, many of which we suspect will be imbibed in this long, hot, climate change summer. […] these compositions seek to capture a feeling rather than soundtrack an event. The title’s most basic translation is bubble water, which makes one think not only of healing tonics, but of mineral springs, especially those of Selters, Germany, whose name inspired seltzer water. The record has been injected with photographic images and the music with influences from multiple genres in hopes that a pleasing chemical reaction may be produced in the listener as well.
Wild Up ~ Julius Eastman Vol. 4 The Holy Presence
Wild Up’s latest dive into the Eastman repertory, Julius Eastman Vol 4: The Holy Presence, digs deep into his archive, performing several works they describe as representing a “musically charged and spiritually reflective vein” of his oeuvre. The resulting album is a shockingly diverse listening experience. Every piece on this album sounds like nothing that has come before. It’s drenched in almost impossibly rich musical expression and while it’s full of emotion, it leaves the listener totally disoriented, sure only that Eastman was a genius.
UPCOMING RELEASES
(complete list with Bandcamp links here)
We’ve waited all year for summer, and now it’s finally here! Schools are out, beaches are open, vacations are in full swing, and we’re looking for the perfect music to accompany our adventures. Whether we’re curling up with a good book, walking in the park or cruising down the highway, there’s nothing quite like a great summer soundtrack in the earbuds or in the car. There’s always something new on the horizon; our ACL playlist stretches all the way to autumn. New previews are added to this page daily; we hope you’ll find your next favorite album right here!
Expugnantis ~ Return to Madadeni (enmossed, 24 July)
Jake Muir ~ enmixed (enmossed, 24 July)
Playback Head ~ Body of Water (Hotham Sound, 25 July)
Vastness Vastness ~ The Temple | Jack Woodbury | Alter Natural (25 July)
Ayumi Ishito ~ Wondercut Club (577 Records, 26 July)
Daniel Catala ~ New Chapter (Bigo & Twiigetti, 26 July)
Devin Maxwell ~ Timebending (Infrequent Seams, 26 July)
Isabell Gustafsson-ny ~ Rosenhagtorn (Warm Winters Ltd., 26 July)
James Ilgenfritz ~ Proprioceptions III: Inasmuch And Insofar (Infrequent Seams, 26 July)
Matthew Ottignon ~ Volant (Earshift Music, 26 July)
Metric System 1981 ~ Down to the Sea (Imaginary North, 26 July)
Øresund Space Collective ~ Orgone Unicorn (Laser’s Edge, 26 July)
Passepartout Duo & Inoyama Land ~ Radio Yugawara (Tonal Unison, 26 July)
PJS ~ Flora (Dronarivm, 26 July)
Raphael Rogiński ~ Žaltys (Unsound, 26 July)
Stef Mendesidis ~ Decima (Klockworks, 26 July)
Yann Novak ~ The Voices of Theseus (Room40, 26 July)
Andrew Wasylyk & Tommy Perman ~ Ash Grey and the Gull Glides On (Clay Pipe Music, 30 July)
Acoxaca ~ The Galvanic Measure (Other Forms, 1 August)
David Pedrick ~ Arta (1 August)
kelly bray & caleb duval ~ BRAY/DUVAL (F.I.M., 1 August)
luke rovinsky & caleb duval ~ DIGNITY DUOS (F.I.M., 1 August)
Boris Hauf ~ CLARK# – from the edges tongues grow (shameless, 2 August)
Keiji Haino ~ Black Blues (Room40, 2 August)
Moiii ~ S/T (Someoddpilot, 2 August)
Pat Thomas & BleySchool ~ Bleyschool: Where (577 Records, 2 August)
REOSC ~ Presented (Distrakt, 2 August)
Various Artists ~ Liminal 001 (Oscilla Sound, 2 August)
Various Artists ~ The Longest Time (Imaginary North, 2 August)
Veins Full of Static ~ A House Wrapped in Sleep (Machine, 2 August)
Zack Clarke ~ Plunge (Orenda, 2 August)
Vaux Flores ~ Dawn Chorales (Audiobulb, 3 August)
sorbitol drops ~ Remízek Music (Gin&Platonic, 4 August)
Braille ~ Triple Transit (Hotflush, 8 August)
Shall Remain Nameless ~ A Bleeping Mess (8 August)
Belong ~ Realistic IX (kranky, 9 August)
Bosque Vacío ~ Cantera Oriente (Flaming Pines, 9 August)
Connor D’Netto x Yvette Ofa Agapow ~ Material (Room40, 9 August)
Gaetha ~ Flawed (élan vital, 9 August)
galen tipton & Holly Waxwing ~ kepsakeFM (Orange Milk, 9 August)
Gwennaëlle Roulleau & Reinhold Freidl ~ strata & spheres (Room40, 9 August)
Various Artists ~ Sound on the Fringe (Megastructure, 9 August)
Hélène Vogelsinger ~ Ethereal Dissolution (Microsmose, 11 August)
BBSitters Club ~ Joel’s Picks Vol. 2 (Hausu Mountain, 16 August)
Chuck Johnson ~ Sun Glories (Western Vinyl, 16 August)
Etelin ~ Patio User Manual (Beacon Sound, 16 August)
Gerard Cleaver ~ The Process (577 Records, 16 August)
Jessica Ackerley ~ All of the Colours Are Singing (16 August)
K. Yoshimatsu ~ Fossil Coccon: The Music of K. Yoshimatsu (Phantom Limb, 16 August)
Melinda Sullivan & Larry Goldings ~ Big Foot (Colorfield, 16 August)
Daniel Curington ~ Composer REACTS / After These Messages (Difficult Art & Music, 21 August)
Federico Balducci & fourthousandblackbirds ~ Succulent Succubus (Difficult Art & Music, 21 August)
John Blum Quartet feat. Marshall Allen ~ Deep Space (Astral Spirits, 21 August)
kraftwitch ~ Liminal Home (Three Wands, 21 August)
Brian Gibson ~ Thrasher (Thrill Jockey, 23 August)
The Mercury Impulse ~ Records of Human Behavior (23 August)
Philip Weberndoerfer ~ Tides (Shifting Paradigm, 23 August)
Umberto ~ Black Bile (Thrill Jockey, 23 August)
Yui Onodera ~ 1982 (Room40, 23 August)
Daniel Vickers & Sergio Mariani_MRN ~ New Dawn (Audiobulb, 24 August)
C6Fe2RN6 ~ S/T (Astral Spirits, 30 August)
Gonçalo F. Cardoso ~ Exotic Immensity (Discrepant, 30 August)
Jan Berrocal + David French + Vincent Epplay feat. Cossi Fanni Tutti and Jah Wobble ~ Broken Allures (Cold Spring, 30 August)
Lars Bech Pilgaard ~ Folklórica (momeatdad, 30 August)
Lia Kohl ~ Normal Sounds (Moon Glyph, 30 August)
Loren Connors & David Grubbs ~ Evening Air (Room40, 30 August)
Quintelium ~ Dream and Reality (Somewherecold, 30 August)
Roman Nagel ~ Home (Bigo & Twigetti, 30 August)
TAU ~ Chants (Fun in the Church, 30 August)
Yuko Araki ~ Zenjitsutan 前日譚 (Room40, 30 August)
Eventless Plot | Yorgos Dimitriadis ~ Entanglements (INNOVO Editions, 1 September)
Ontzeiling ~ All These Moments Will Be Lost (esc.rec., 5 September)
Daniel Carter, Leo Genovese, William Parker, Francisco Mela ~ Shine Hear, Vol. 2 (577 Records, 6 September)
DHÆÜR ~ Supercinema 05 (Supercinema, 6 September)
Francesco Leali ~ Let Us Descend (UNTIL RIOTS, 6 September)
Heli Hartikainen ~ CHRONOVARIATIONS (6 September)
Henrik Pultz Melbye ~ Drømmene (Wetware, 6 September)
Jeff Snyder ~ Loom (Carrier, 6 September)
Laurence Pike ~ The Undreamt-Of Centre (Leaf, 6 September)
Mads Emil Nielsen ~ Heartbeats (arbitrary, 6 September)
Masayoshi Fujita ~ Migratory (Erased Tapes, 6 September)
Ocoeur ~ Breath (n5MD, 6 September)
Purple Decades ~ Fraction of Centuries (Beacon Sound, 6 September)
Zimoun ~ Dust Resonance (Room40, 6 September)
CZIGO ~ Actant Theory (Machine, 7 September)
Aidan Baker & Dead Neanderthals ~ Cast Down and Hunted (Moving Furniture, 13 September)
Jos Smolders ~ Testur 1 (Moving Furniture, 13 September)
Michael Serian ~ Life at Cliff Bell’s (Shifting Paradigm, 13 September)
Nídia & Valentina ~ Estradas (Latency, 13 September)
Paradise Cinema ~ returning, dream (Gondwana, 13 September)
Sarah Davachi ~ The Head as Form’d in the Crier’s Choir (Late Music, 13 September)
Transatlantic Trance Map ~ Marconi’s Drift (False Walls, 13 September)
Tulpas ~ Atisbo (Astral Spirits, 13 September)
V/A ~ Dekmantel Ten: A Decade of Dekmantel Festival (Dekmantel, 13 September)
We Are Winter’s Blue and Radiant Children ~ “No More Apocalypse Father” (Constellation, 13 September)
Zeno van der Broek, HIIIT, Gagi Petrovic & Machines ~ Relatum (Moving Furniture, 13 September)
Alaskan Tapes ~ Something Ephemeral (Nettwek, 20 September)
Alan Licht ~ Havens (VDSQ, 20 September)
DEFTR ~ Run Away (npm, 20 September)
DJ Stingray 313 ~ Industry 4.o EP (Tresor, 20 September)
more eaze ~ lacuna and parlor (Mondoj, 20 September)
Nico van Wersch ~ Psychose (Naked, 20 September)
Otay.onii ~ True Faith Ain’t Blind (No-Gold, 20 September)
mu tate ~ wanting less (Warm Winters Ltd., 20 September)
Tam Lin ~ Mutant Tangle (27 September)
Telekaster ~ Lontano (Empanada Music, 27 September)
Twin Talk ~ Twin Talk Live (Shifting Paradigm, 27 September)
Cape Canaveral ~ Ghost Rips (Machine Records, 4 October)
Nichunimu ~ Calados (577 Records, 4 October)
Unicorn Ship Explosion ~ There’s a Rhinoceros in the Mega Church (Sound Records, 4 October)
V/A ~ Cybernetics, Or Ghosts? (Subtext, 6 October)
Brad Shepik ~ Human Activity: Dream of the Possible (Shifting Paradigm, 11 October)