|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LP
|
|
KJ 020LP
|
LP version. "Contained, though pulsating, a guitar sketch makes its way through warm feedback sounds and shivery drones; at times expanding, at others retracting. Accompanied by unobtrusive organ harmonies -- a voice welcomes us on our 40-minute journey through Pendler's debut album..The music of the 'test arrangement of people,' as Pendler refer to themselves, while equipped with a certain, undeniable pop appeal, remains somewhere between song and soundtrack, lo-fi Americana and psychedelectronic soundscapes, between the directly uttered and the consciously heard."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
KJ 020CD
|
"Contained, though pulsating, a guitar sketch makes its way through warm feedback sounds and shivery drones; at times expanding, at others retracting. Accompanied by unobtrusive organ harmonies -- a voice welcomes us on our 40-minute journey through Pendler's debut album. For the finishing touches to their album You Come To Me..., musicians Sabine Marte, feminist video and performance artist ('SV Damenkraft'), Markus Marte, guitarist and scapewriter (was auch immer das sein soll), and Oliver Stotz ('Ground Lift,' 'Le Charmant Rouge') took their time. Because working together across geographical distances may not be easy, but it has had a discernible effect on their music and ultimately also given the band, who have joined the Viennese family Karate Joe, its name ('Pendler' meaning 'commuter'). However, 'Pendler,' 'commuter,' does not only stand for the physical conquest of stretches, but also for the musical transformation of previously traditional structures and instrumentation into the band's very own musical microcosm; defined by a digital reworking of base material and the creation of ambivalences and blurs, especially with regards to their handling of the pop-culture's legacy. Consequently, the music of the 'test arrangement of people,' as Pendler refer to themselves, while equipped with a certain, undeniable pop appeal, remains somewhere between song and soundtrack, lo-fi Americana and psychedelectronic soundscapes, between the directly uttered and the consciously heard."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
KJ 015CD
|
"Forst is the companion piece to Naila which was the most recent album from blissful Austrians Mimi Secue. Written at the same time, both albums were envisaged as a set, a double pack if you will yet both have a very different sentiment. Forst showcases the slow, sentimental side of the band, and it absolutely excels on every level. With slowcore ballads to rival the masters of the genre Low, and gorgeous shoegazing soundscapes punctuated with tearful shimmering vocals that would make Slowdive shudder, they have come up with a something truly masterful. Also similar in structure to the recent album from Hälma, there seems to be something of a rebirth for slowcore indie in central Europe, but this is no negative thing -- these bands are doing it just right. From the orchestral cinematic opener 'Bekaen' to the gorgeous closing ballad 'Forst' each track is a pleasure to behold. This album comes as a huge recommendation and is an essential part of the Karate Joe catalogue. If you have any interest in any of the bands mentioned, or in good old fashioned heartfelt guitar ballads, check this now and you won't be disappointed."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
KJ 017CD
|
"Quietude is as subdued as its name suggests but rewards the attentive listener with detailed, shifting patterns and sparkling textures. It takes the cut-and-paste aesthetic of laptop composers and transforms it into cohesive, near-ambient compositions. The resulting combinations are strikingly pretty, and almost completely avoids dissonance. Looped backgrounds mesh effortlessly with slow-moving melodies. While at times within the glitch idiom, Takuma Itoi's work is decidedly more deliberate and organic than his peers. Lullabies suitable for soothing the space-sickness of newborn cosmonauts: let this be the soundtrack to your stasis chamber too."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
KJ 018CD
|
"In 2004, the Austria-based band Mimi Secue floored audiences and critics with their third album Forst which showcased the group's ability to create highly effective mood-pieces: not ambient music per se but one of more grandiose proportions, going from a whisper to a roar often while still keeping the delicate structures intact. Something of a companion album to Forst, Naila experiments with similar feelings and instrumentation -- however this time the band creates more concise, surrounding, and well-contoured pieces, which have greater impact than anything the band has done yet. Naila is a tour-de-force in the Mimi Secue canon."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
KJ 019CD
|
"Picking up where the acclaimed Music for Field Recordings left off, Glim's second album is an equally refined and somewhat more overt survey of musical structure. Imagine chilly pop designs stripped of their content and in the process, becoming elaborate explorations of the detail in post-production -- the scaffolding without the building there beneath it. Aerial View of Model creates a pattern of high-frequency jitters, crystallized movements of tone memories, rustling journeys into an audio-past, forming a silver jet-stream that echoes with implied memory. A must for fans of Tape, Mountains, Deaf Center."
|