This Week I wanted to draw attention to the work of German experimental band Neu! A band formed by two early members of Kraftwerk and an influential part of all modern electronica especially ambient music.
Hallogallo is the opening track from their first EP and a great example of their work. It has this fluid feel to the piece that becomes almost hypnotic over its long running time. So sit back relax and click play:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. To celebrate I have been listening to more alternative Christmas songs and was reminded of the title track to the soundtrack for the film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. A beautiful piece for piano, written and performed live by Ryuichi Sakamoto:
On his album Rossz Csillag Alatt Született artist Venetian Snares samples classical compositions and adds traditional instrumentation along with heavily processed drum samples to create an interesting hybrid of genres. Hanjal is one of the highlights for me, listen to it below:
I’ve only just noticed that I haven’t put Flim By Aphex Twin up as a TOTW before so I’ve amend this misgiving today.
Flim is one of my favourite tracks of all time. It manages to blend a couple of interweaving detuning synth lines and sampled strings with Aphex Twins trademark glitched drum sound. What astonishes me about the piece is I have never got tired of it on repeat listens. The track is expertly crafted, every note and drum hit was placed into the arrangement with purpose and were left with a track that reveals more to the listener every time they hear it:
This is the third time Grandaddy have appeared on my track of the week segment and with good reason. Their mix of Lo-Fi sound with highly ambitious structure manage to create tracks that you have to admire. The punk “do it yourself” ethos can be ascribed to all of Grandaddys work including their production and its this creation of amazing music almost in spite of the technology that me a massive fan.
Although their second album the software slump is a favourite for me and highlighted in the previous tracks of the week underneath the weeping willow and He’s simple, he’s dumb he’s the pilot. This week I thought i would go to a track from their first album under the western freeway.
Although on the more grungy side of Grandaddys tracks. Summer here kids has the seeds in it that would grow into the gargantuan oaks of later work. The opening synth line and the skittish structure which attacks its own tempo after the acoustic guitar break are perfect examples. Mix that with the cynical downtrodden vocals of Jason Lytle and your on to a great track:
In attempting to gather my thoughts for my top five albums of the year, I’ve been going back to previous years winners and seeing how they all stand up. This brought me back to the wonderful second Girls album from 2011.
Jamie Marie is the final track to the album and is a perfect swan song for their work being both the end of the album and the end track of their material due to the band disbanding after this albums tour.
For me vocals have never been about them as an instrument but as a form of communication. You can be pitch perfect and have a fantastic range but if what your singing isn’t believable to me I just don’t see the point. Some singers have the talent to make you belive words they havent written sound like they come from their heart, but often I find a singer songwriters achieve it more regularly and Christopher Owens vocals demonstrate this perfectly.
There is a fragility and innocence to his voice that suits the lyrics and hearing him sing “Maybe it’s all right. I mean, I went and found the modern world. But i miss the way live was when you were my girl” Get me every time:
For me there are few bands that can hit with the same emotional punch as classical music. However with the development of polyphonic synthesis even small bands or single artists can create more complex arrangements that fill the spectrum with sounds that manage to come close.
Reprise carry’s a heft, It feels like the weight of the world is on Mews shoulders and when it is contradicted by the break down into the innocent vocals from singer Jonas Bjerre the childlike naivety manages to free itself and the listener from this oppression.
Mew manages to mix the emotions of both the dreamer and the pessimist to create something that strikes a blow to me on many of their tracks. Reprise is a perfect example:
John Hopkins fourth album immunity came out earlier this year and I have only recently caught up with it. He has managed to create music which straggles both the dance floor and your headphones with its blend of instrumentation, electronics and recorded textures.
I really like the way the album manges to go from tracks more orientated towards the club to thought pieces like Abandon Window without loosing an overall mood.
Abandon Window features a simple piano melody which is accompanied by a bed of intriguing organic textures. These textures become a key point of the track. Some are easily recognisable like the fireworks, others are more of a mystery which I find captivating:
In a recent Interview on Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone. Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never stated that his influence for making music comes from the sounds created when having his teeth drilled. To say his music is not for everyone may be an understatement but for those who like to hear something a bit more out the box you are going to get music that’s definitely unique and for me refreshing.
Although his previous album Replica is a fantastic piece of work, It’s textures and themes are a little harsher then those found in the new album R Plus Seven which manages to round off its edges without loosing the trademark sound that Oneothrix Point Never creates.
Zebra Opens with a very direct melody which brings attention to the piece before the shift into different textures and design throughout the second half of the track. If you like what you hear Onothrix Point Never has created several albums which I would highly recommend:
The new Son Lux album Lanterns came out this week and I still have to listen to it a few more times to really get to grips with it. I heard the track Easy several weeks ago through the fantastic NPR podcast All Songs Considered and it instantly stood out with its eerie sound design and chugging saxophone: