More albums, five of a more experimental nature this time, five together, more cross pollination, more of whatever this is all about. What is this about? Who knows? Here’s some more music, here’s some more albums, here and now, floating anarchy, whatever you make of it, he has created three goals in the last four matches, thetr are building a little bit of pressure here, oh he’s got it all wrong…
Ako Amo – What’s the Sound of a Dream? (self release) – A debut album from the Switzerland-based duo, a rather absorbing, rather beautiful album featuring both piano music and electronic composition in equal measure. “warm, contemplative music for critical dreamers, incorporating ambient, early digital electronics, evocative piano acoustics, perceptive sound design and more…” is how they would like us to describe it and that is about right, they are Martin Reck (electronics) and Olivia Zaugg (piano). Relatively quiet rather warm inviting soothing piano that sometimes shimmers above the electronic and sometimes flows beneath, the mix of the two elements is just right. It is all rather beautiful, it isn’t without the hint of a bite or a darker edge now and again, mostly it is a beautiful detailed pleasure and “what’s the Sound of a Dream? What happens when piano and electronics meet on equal sonic footing, alternating effortlessly between accompaniment and shared moments of solo expression? These questions motivated the creation of Ako Amo’s debut album”. Just sit back and enjoy…
Bandcamp / www.martinreck.ch/ako-amo
Mark Solotroff – In Search Of Total Placelessness – “Electronic music veteran” so it says here, artist, multi-instrumentalist and “noise mastermind” Mark Solotroff has just released a new full-length album , In Search Of Total Placelessness. We’re told the music is an an “exploration of the transient, the ephemeral, and the interplay of difference that defines our existence. Solotroff created this album to dissolve the boundaries of traditional spatial and temporal structures, inviting listeners into a realm where meaning is constantly deferred and redefined”. It sounds like abstract though, gentle industrial scapes, barely moving machine hum, things that might be out there in the dark. I want to say it is painterly but it isn’t quite, it does kind of sound like train movement in the dead of night; “Each track embodies a fluid state of flux, resonating with the raw chill of analogue synthesisers and the atmospheric depth of transmuted location recordings that Solotroff made in Chicago, Milan, and Venice. These places, with their distinct sounds and ambiances, weave an intricate tapestry that grounds the music in reality, yet the album’s soundscape transcends these origins, creating an otherworldly experience”. Dare I say it all sounds like the same place? Dare I say it could be anywhere? Dare I say it all sounds the same and that I might like it for background as part of some art installation, maybe even as something louder, more than just mere background? “The music is a meditation on the interplay between the symbolic and the unreal, creating an atmosphere thick with introspection and foreboding. This duality of rootedness and ethereality reflects tension of achieving placelessness and escaping the confines of specific locations and emotional states”, it is reflective, it is kind of soothing, it is rather enjoyable in the way machine drone can be, it could well be elegant if your day is taking you that way. The idea of Placelessness is an interesting one as you maybe drift into the deep, immersive layers of sound…
“Mark Solotroff formed the band Intrinsic Action in 1984 and he’s a founding member of Anatomy Of Habit and Bloodyminded. His other bands include The Mercury Impulse, The Fortieth Day, A Vague Disquiet, Ensemble Sacrés Garçons, and Nightmares. He recorded 100 cassettes of analogue synth music under the name Super Eight Loop and he releases synth-based and feedback system music under his own name”.
Toru / Brutalism – Split (Arsenic Solaris) – A collaborative child of the French ambient project Toru and Brutalism, the black-metal side-project of Locrian’s Terrence Hannum, that’s if the facts have been presented right and the evidence is all in the correct order m’lud, although it does take quite some time to reveal that black metal side as it broods away in a darkly minimal almost menacing kind of way. It takes almost seventeen slow moving rather tense minutes before the voices that threaten to be screams kick in in a rather animalistic witchy kind of way. Dark, ritualistic, sharp-edged at times, rusty, music that could cut you; “In a rare meeting of minds and sonic sensibilities, French instrumental trio Toru and Baltimore-based solo project Brutalism (Terence Hannum of Locrian, Holy Circle, Axebreaker) present a new split album”. More architecture, this time somewhere deep underneath and the deconstruction of interior voids, released on a label “focused on Dark, Harsh, Experimental, Occult and Esoteric sounds” and really we do get far far too much of this kind of thing sent in. Made the mistake of reviewing something like this positively about twenty seven years ago and it hasn’t stopped coming in every since and gawd, no, hang on here come a spoken word bit and in this way and yes it is good but you see, now I’ve put someone else’s album on and it is kind of more of the same and oh, well I kind of enjoyed the thick layers of dark moody atmosphere for a bit (although I am itching to put on some Motley Crue or have Sammy Hagar tell me there’s only one way to rock or maybe have Starz do their thing very loudly at least six times). Hang on…
“TORU, a French band spread across Lyon, Nice, and Marseille, delivers a monumental 22-minute piece titled Witches’ Cliff. Composed and recorded over two days in the studio, this track is built around an electroacoustic approach and immersive sonic storytelling. Blending hypnotic ambient, drone, and doom/sludge, the band crafts a soundscape that is both eerie and contemplative, where distant echoes and telluric rumblings resonate like a pagan ritual performed by a community of witches atop a cliff, where the ocean crashes below”.
“BRUTALISM, a solo project based in Baltimore, Maryland (USA), is led by Terence Hannum (Locrian, Holy Circle, Axebreaker…). Inspired by the raw and monolithic aesthetics of the Brutalist architectural movement, Brutalism sculpts a sound that navigates between ambient, drone, and atmospheric black metal, constructing massive sonic structures where distorted layers intertwine with shoegaze textures and ghostly field recordings. His two tracks weave a dense and spectral atmosphere, oscillating between contemplation and subterranean tension, leading the listener through the labyrinthine corridors of a towering concrete and steel megastructure”.
Must confess, I got the idea they were actually working together and not just merely sharing space next to each other on an album, didn’t read those two bits you just passed up there until afterwards, didn’t notice any real difference between the two parties, it all sounded like it was made by the same people and I didn’t really get a brutalist feeling in terms of the architecture of the pieces either, but hey, we’re well into this century now and music reviews are so last century, you’ve got the Bandcamp just down there, you can listen and form your own opinion, we wouldn’t have given it space on this page if we didn’t feel it worth your time and space and although it kind of feels like so many other things of a similar nature, here it is…
And then you see something else and curiosity never killed the cat and you have to check it out as well and well, another recent release on Arsenic Solaris, another split album and a couple of maybe more out there flavours in the form of an album from OvO and Mai Mai Mai and “two essential figures of the Italian experimental underground, join forces for an exceptional split album. These artists have continuously pushed the boundaries of musical genres, exploring extreme and uncharted sonic territories” and go explore that on Bandcamp as well if you feel the need? It is rather good…
Tomo-Nakaguchi – Out Of The Blue (Audiobulb) – “Tomo-Nakaguchi is a musician and sound artist living in Yokohama, Japan. He is a member of experimental rock band 1769 and multimedia group Skyward Photo Film. His work creates dreamy and warm texture use layers of modulated acoustic/electric guitar, sampler, broken tape machine, field recordings and many instruments sound”.
Out of the Blue is Tomo-Nakaguchi’s third album on Audiobulb and apparently “marks a significant evolution in his sonic exploration. Meticulously crafting intricate soundscapes from a vast array of audio elements, this album showcases a new level of complexity and beauty. Ranging from serene ambient sounds to aggressive noise, the album takes listeners on an unpredictable sonic journey. With its rapid shifts and layered textures, each track feels like a roller coaster ride through sound. The intricate layering of sounds creates a sense of floating through a cosmic expanse”. It is all very (very) nice in the nicest possible way; bright, alive, uplifting, soothing, fine details, layers, a refreshing bath, a beautiful escape and ultimately all just a little too nice and polite and hey, let’s not kick cute puppies or rain anyone’s parade, it is all extremely nice
THE ORGAN 