Search Result for Catalog N 043CD
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N 043CD
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Whenever Markus Acher finds time between his work with The Notwist and Lali Puna, he sets out to record film soundtracks under his solo moniker Rayon. This time it's Eleonora Danco's 2015 film N-Capace that inspired ten cinematic, instrumental sketches based on loops that loom, take shape, and change colors, only to vanish an instant later. Acher's understated tracks, created with both electronic and acoustic layers, can do without titles -- "Il Collo e la Collana 01" through "10" is perfectly sufficient -- because, ultimately, they're one entity anyway. After all, it's Danco's film, influenced by Fellini, Buñuel, and Beckett, that triggered these interpretations and set the tone for Il Collo e la Collana. At times clocking in at less than two minutes, the crackle of these tracks leads to a vast, shimmering expanse over barely audible layers of bass; it is here, in this clearing, that Acher, alone with his headphones, combines various acoustic instruments (mallets, harmonium, glockenspiel, guitar, piano) with samples, keys, beats, and drum computers; it is here that he meets some old acquaintances (Egisto Macchi, Bruno Nicolai, Ennio Morricone, Oronzo de Filippi) or reverses an idea so that it can slip where it belongs. The entire soundtrack is a purely instrumental, pastoral landscape of epic proportions. Whereas Eleonora Danco eventually released her latest movie as N-Capace, Acher sticks to its working title, Il Collo e la Collana (The Collar and Necklace), and his "collar" not only includes music that's not part of the original movie, but it also traces his path as a musician, with warm, soothing harmonies, melancholy moods, intentional cracks, the kind of freedom usually associated with jazz. Just like the movie, which Acher describes as "poetic and surreal at times," his soundtrack feels like an album of snaps; experimental, shot from unexpected angles, and often "beautifully strange" (which happens to be the common thread that links all Alien Transistor releases). This CD also includes Libanon, Acher's soundtrack for the late Michael Shamberg's 2006 film Maître, Lihseb Please, originally released as a 10" in 2006. Supported by cellist Sebastian Hess and singer Victoria Bergman, it's a stunningly melancholy trip to Beirut that features local samples over harmonium, with nods to Fouad Elkoury's photography and Etel Adnan's writings.
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HFN 043CD
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Copenhagen-based duo Darkness Falls follow up their acclaimed 2011 debut LP Alive in Us (HFN 009CD/LP), their 2011 self-titled EP (HFN 006EP) (which included "Hey!" the most played song on Danish radio in 2011), and a string of exquisite live performances with Dance and Cry, an album of atmospheric pop noir. Defying convention, Josephine Philip and Ina Lindgreen effortlessly blend a host of rock and pop influences, the textures and structures of electronic dance music, and the haunting atmospheres of art-house cinema soundtracks to produce an album of deep longing and icy cool -- all drawn together by impeccable vocals that embody a decidedly glamorous melancholy. It's an album that will tick all the boxes for a diverse range of listeners; as they themselves put it: "In our music, there is something for the mind, something for the heart and something for the feet too." The dramatic opener sets the tone, a torch-song that seductively entices the listener to "come out and join me for night games" over layers of sustained synths. A slow house kick drum adds momentum, as one carefully curated sound after another enriches the musical palette until it builds to a heart-stirring climax. The haunting "The Answer" -- a tale of love, desire and loss -- maintains the quality, as a Cure-like guitar motif circles over a beautifully textured beat of found sounds. Lush and yearning, it's instantly unforgettable. From this point on, it's clear that picking favorites will be a thankless task: this is an album of consistent brilliance. A dizzying whirlpool, Dance and Cry draws on a dazzling array of influences. The Jesus and Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush, Nite Jewel, bedroom pop, widescreen expanses, basement rock, church choir ethereality -- each listener will bring personal touchstones and inspirations to mind. "Darkness falls" was traditionally a phrase used in old plays, shorthand for indicating the ending of a scene; the moment when the drama is given over to the audience, to hold, to contemplate, to languorously enjoy. Dance and Cry couldn't be more fitting in these terms: an album of great richness in which you'll want to immerse yourself. Produced by Darkness Falls, Adrian Aurelius (The Raveonettes), and Lasse Martinussen (Rosemary), except for "Hazy," which was produced with Anders Rhedin (Dinner, Choir of Young Believers). Artwork by multi-award-winning Danish photographer and artist Peter Funch.
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TOKEN 043CD
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From his first EP release in 1996, British producer Inigo Kennedy has built a sound which embraces both the traditional and the ambitious, as well as the emotional, organic energy of live performance. Continuously studying the effects and capability of digital equipment, Kennedy has released in excess of 100 records, either as himself or through alternative monikers (Reducer, Tomito Satori). He has released these records on labels such as Missile, Semantica, and his own Asymmetric. Since 2007, Inigo Kennedy and Belgian label Token Records have had a particularly close and fruitful relationship. Kennedy had three releases on the Ghent-based label in 2013, including the thumping "Emitter" and spiraling epic "Cathedral." Inigo now returns to Token -- and with a project that feels like the culmination of all those years and all those records. In true, theatrical manner, Vaudeville is a collection of differing themes -- from the abstract and freakishly odd to the direct and resonant. And just as the Vaudevillian shares a common purpose with his co-stars as the "voice of the city" ("voix de ville"), there runs through the center of this record a clear narrative for urban experience. "Narrative" presages the mood with a cold wind, before "Birth" emerges with rain on the ground and a helicopter searching in the swirling darkness. "Requiem," next, is more direct, as a warm kick and frenzied timbres interlock; the rumble recalls echoing and unhappy machinery. As one cornerstone of the record, "Plaintive" is Requiem's anxious but happier brother: an organ winds its way down a slope, as soft toms herald the start of reflection on a heroic journey. "Lullaby" has a deep and echo-laden undercurrent, building from afar but also warm and so incredibly close. "Vallecula" is lower-slung still, the atmosphere rough and unpredictable. "Winter" is the rolling patter of rain through clashing snare taps and dragging hi-hats, solid thumps in haunted isolation. "Petrichor" strides like a king through his realm, again wrapped in dank surroundings. "Aleph" is the coolest act, a tremor of synth and an icy kick of determination. It's a race through the streets in sturdy boots, swirling in its certain melody. And at last there is the final cornerstone -- "NGC5128" (a galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus). A reflective end, this galactic rumble is late-of-bar heavy, and has a fitting space-synth jagging in and out.
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JMAN 043CD
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Jazzman's never-ending mission to reveal the under-appreciated-yet-worthy-of-attention jazz masters around the world has now taken them far away and across the sea to Mexico. Not the first port of call you'd consider if you were looking for hard bop or modal jazz, but here they have found an incredible jazz drummer whose career has spanned over 5 decades, and who is still playing to this day. In that time, Tino Contreras has produced countless recordings, played innumerable live dates and performed with various jazz groups all around the world. Yet he is still relatively unknown, and probably Mexico's best-kept jazz secret. During his far-reaching travels over the years, all kinds of weird and wonderful sounds have come to influence the music of the imaginative Mexican jazzman. Hear Latinesque ritual chants on "Orfeo En Los Tambores," insane percussion on the high-tempo jazz-dance favorite "What Is This Thing Called Love," avant-garde experimentation with a psychedelic subframe on "Orbita," exotic waltz-time jazz on "Visnu" and religiously-themed chamber jazz with choir on "Credo," Santo" and "Gloria." Not only that, but noted influences from India, Egypt, Turkey and Brazil create a most fascinating jazz album, the likes of which you will most likely never have heard before. Jazzman tells the story of the maverick that is Tino Contreras, showcasing his unique and fascinating career with 16 tracks, a 12-page color CD booklet. Includes extensive original liner notes in both English and Spanish with comments from Tino himself.
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ALIEN 043CD
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"Tanakh's newest record, Dieu Deuil, commands a nautical embrace of wet boots and November days filled with rain. It sings stories of loss, hope, and transcendence amidst the swirling cyclone of mundaneness. Dieu Deuil, which takes it name from the architecture of Daniel Libeskind, successfully integrates improvisation and song writing, and communicates an interior intimacy, which previously was only hinted at in the drifting exterior world of 'Villa Claustrophobia'. Dieu Deuil is a small warm café in the cavernous arcades of 'Villa Claustrophobia,' where the air is moist with smoky teas and steam hoarfrosts the windows. 'Dieu Deuil' maintains the outer-national feel of 'Villa Claustrophobia' but focuses less on a pneumatic exotica and more on a rich interior journey that communicates the warmth of human touch and the frigid burn that such contact can leave when it is taken away. Dieu Deuil captures a particular gentleness of the 70s-era folk psychedelia inspired by the likes of John Martyn, Tim Buckley, Fairport Convention and Pentangle, both in it's inventive orchestration and in it's vocally charged delivery."
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TN 043CD
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"The Story of Rip Van Winkle may seem incredible to many, but nevertheless I give it my full belief, for I know the vicinity of our old Dutch settlements to have been very subject to marvellous events and appearances...' In addition to his work on the debut albums by DOT and Misty Dixon, David Tyack follows his solo debut with an album based upon Rip Van Winkle, the short story by Washington Irving. Where Am Deister drew comparisons from Tortoise to Faust, Can and even Debussy, Rip Van Winkle takes its inspiration from a classic work of American fiction. Rip Van Winkle, an idle fellow from the Dutch settlements goes into the Catskill mountains, where he falls into a deep sleep. When he awakes, he finds that those he once knew have passed away, and that his country has undergone major political and social change."
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