2/10/2012
Ohrchitekt - Snakeseed (2009)
8.8
/Breakcore, Glitchtronica, Electro pop, Electro, Industrial electro, Brekabeat, Breaks, Club dance/
Comment: there are up 14 tracks by Ohrchitekt (Carsten Lehmann), a Germany-based producer whose main concept is to evoke breakcore-charged conceptions. Indeed, Ohrchitekt`s pieces are very tight and galvanized ones, with no pause for resting time; those breakbeat/breakcore-centered pieces are filled in with the elements of billowy electro, glitch-filled smithereens, industrial-drenched noise, stutteringly running sonic effect-related madness. It is though for dancing at full speed and just for listening and enjoying. Very good indeed.
Bidibop - Be (2011)
8.9
/Indie pop, Indietronica, Electronic pop, Organic electronica, Alternative, Leftfield, Experimental indie/
Comment: the Frenchman Vincent Nicolas aka Bidibop fuses electronica and indie pop and angular glitches in an elegant way. In comparison with his (previous) band Un Automne à Lob-nor (with Sèbastien Roux, Jean-Nicolas Heillouis, Alexandre Gouy) Bidibop`s sound is intended to be remarkably more indietronic and less post-rock by its orientation. Dominantly Nicolas` oeuvre is instrumental, there is only one notch where he used to sing (though, he does it very well). It is said that his only aim is to create pop. Indeed, by listening to the album you get convinced the release does have its own place amongst indie and electronica mixing musicians so widely appeared in Central Europe (The Notwist, Wixel, Oto Efekt, Lali Puna, Nogaro, Cantaloup, Julian Winter and others).
2/09/2012
Joshua Manchester - Occident (2004)
9.4
/Improvised music, Free Jazz, Chamber music, Musique concrète, Crossover, Spoken word, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Electro-acoustic/
Comment: Joshua Manchester is a classically trained jazz composer/percussionist closely related to Chicago experimental jazz/improvised music scene. There are represented 10 compositions which used to variegate their shapes, change their patterns and constitute innovative, refreshing modalities. At times it delivers more jazz-centered pieces (especially by exploiting the whiffs of brass-wind instruments), sometimes it gets developed into chamber music/noir progressions, at times it used to be getting close to electro-acoustic/ambient music, sometimes Manchester has managed to showcase his aspirations through avant-garde characterized pitchbent effects and warped voice snippets. On the other side, Psycle Sluts takes on a storytelling endeavour slightly embellished with brassy sounds. The album will be ended up at get serious wrapped up in tight street sounds. Though the issue used to be a complex result, it is coherently composed and thereby vital and galvanic. An eminent outlet which deserves to be remembered.
Akron/Family - February 17, 2011 Knitting Factory (2011)
8.8
/Psych-folk, New Weird America, Psychedelic rock, Free folk, Avant-folk, Free folk, Experimentalism, Live recording/
Comment: the gigs by Akron/Family (Dana Janssen, Seth Olinsky, Miles Seaton) seem to be highly joyous by nature. At least this one used to be. In addition to the band`s frenetic experiments/improvisations with folk, blues, electronic undercurrents, dance rhythms, musique concrète-drenched sounds, sharp psychedelia there are some funny dodges (interpreting old standards; let the crowd singing). Enjoy the gig by a musical combo at Knitting Factory, a legendary venue for innovative artists, which was one of the most eminent chapters in the appearing process of the New Weird America movement alongside with Animal Collective, and Devendra Banhart.