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For all of the group's first three albums each being intriguing, engaging listens, there was no hint that Mi Media Naranja would be as flat out amazing as it was. Yet it was, and remains, Labradford's best album yet, an accomplished meshing of all the various elements to their sound over previous releases into one near-perfect sonic document. Making a specific benefit out of turning the minimal into something maximal always was the band's major ability, but it gets showcased here to a new, breathtaking extent. "S" sets the scene just right, with Mark Nelson's trademark, deliberate, echoed guitar plucking, and all manner of ambient keyboard touches joined by gentle strings and, most notably of all, a crisp, dub-inflected rhythm, spare but forceful. Add to this an overlay near the start of the song of a high-frequency pitch -- not annoying, but noticeable -- and the end impression is of a band in full command of how to create detailed but not overly busy songs, compelling in their understated beauty. The album is packed with such high points and subtle sonic touches -- the sample of a child and slight bossa-nova rhythm on "WR," the loops of running liquid and distant engines behind twinkly keyboard sounds -- and then all that behind the usual guitar/organ interplay -- on "I," along with cryptic found-sound, man-on-the-street statements dropped in at various points to boot. Quietly fascinating and endlessly listenable, Media turns what had been a very good band indeed into a masterful one.
Tracklist
01. S
02. G
03. WR
04. C
05. I
06. V
07. P
Monade is a Bordeaux, France-based post-rock band which was initially a side project of Lætitia Sadier, one half of Stereolab. In the late 1990s, the All-City imprint released a 7" split of Monade's "Ode to a Keyring"/"Witch Hazel" [the b-side of the split featured materials by post-rock group, M, featuring David Pajo of Slint]. These songs were recorded by Sadier with Rosie Cuckston of the band Pram. The two songs featured on Monade's initial 45 were re-recorded for the group's first full-length record, Socialisme Ou Barbarie [Drag City]. They have released two albums to date on the Duophonic label which is partially owned by Sadier herself. The first album, Socialisme ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings was released in 2003 after being produced part-time over a period of six years.
Their second album, A Few Steps More (2005), marks a more cohesive stage in the band's development. There is now a regular lineup, and it was recorded using studio equipment. The album has been roundly praised and criticised for its superficial resemblance to the sound of Stereolab, but several reviews have commented more on the harmonic structure of the album, which almost seems to blend symphonically at times. Asked about on the album's themes in an interview for Eye Weekly, Sadier commented: "I was trying to write to the individual and the capacity to listen to one's desires. Also, I tackled the idea of becoming. I think that's quite an important notion: that things should be allowed to become. I became a singer and it took me years and I want Monade to have a chance to become a band."[1]
ARTIST : French Teen Idol
TITLE : El Siete Es La Luz
LABEL : French Teen Idol
GENRE : Instrumental Rock
BITRATE : LAME v3.97 VBR V2
SOURCE : CD
SIZE : 69,6 MB
STORE DATE : 2009
Track List
----------
01. Rome Shrugged [4:17]
02. I Want George Soros [6:22]
03. War Is Kind [5:03]
04. Fragile Chords [4:26]
05. The Constant [7:16]
06. Last Train To Santiago [5:47]
07. El Siete Es La Luz [5:06]
08. Prendre Son Temps [12:23]
A (fake) concept album, "El Siete Es La Luz" is an 8-track, 50-minute long
(almost) fully instrumental musical experience. Layers of strings and piano
melodies, pseudo-glitch drum beats, wanna-be post-rock crescendos and weird
vocal samples.
http://www.frenchteenidol.com
http://www.myspace.com/frenchteenidol
Tripper is the debut full-length by the 10-piece Danish ensemble Efterklang, a band whose name translates literally to "after-noise" but more loosely to "reverberation" or "remembrance." All of these translations are in one way or another appropriate descriptors for the wondrous music created by the group, which settles beautifully into an open area somewhere between the elegant minimalist orchestrations of Max Richter, the electronically-enhanced chamber music of Rachel's albums like Systems/Layers, and the more contemplative moments of Godspeed! You Black Emperor.
The most obvious characteristic that separates Efterklang from these other artists is their extensive use of vocals to augment their spacious orchestral sound. The band regularly alternates between male and female lead vocals, and on many tracks it also employs a full Greenlandic choir. In addition, the band's roster now includes the trumpeter Kristina Schjelde, as well as Hildur Arsaelsdottir and Edda Run Olafsdottir from Iceland's Amina string quartet, who have also performed with Sigur Ros. The cumulative weight of these collected voices and players is considerable, imbuing even the group's most fragile melodies with an astonishing degree of dramatic authority.
Each track on Tripper is constructed meticulously from the ground up, with a base carpeting of electronically generated beats and effects providing the connective tissue between Efterklang's frequent slow-burning crescendos. On numbers like "Swarming" or the exquisite "Collecting Shields", every element of sound is patiently introduced in sequence, allowing the listener to become familiar with each layer before subsequent waves of instrumentation arrive to crash and roil. On busier tracks, like album closer "Chapter 6", electronic and acoustic elements are integrated less cautiously, resulting in jarring sonic leaps that occasionally require strenuous listening but can prove enthralling if you're willing to put in the concentrative effort.
Although most lyrics I can catch seem to be sung in English, I've only been able to pick up on every third word or so, and I'm unable to say what exactly these songs are about. Efterklang's extensive and strategic use of silence, partnered with their recurrent instrumental swells and surges will surely prompt many comparisons to Sigur Ros, and at their best the group is able to fleetingly capture something of the same dream-like, nebulous yearning that has made albums like Agaetis Byrjun or ( ) so endlessly compelling.
Though Tripper was a full year in the making-- and the members of Efterklang have obviously given their full attention to even the smallest detail-- the album is not over-composed to the point of sterility. Perhaps it's a credit to the sheer number of cooks in the kitchen, but even with this music's grand scale each song is allowed enough space to be able to breathe on its own. And with their vibrant, continually evolving arrangements, Efterklang here ensures that, as their name implies, this music should continue to reverberate in your memory for a long time to come.
Leeds / Leicester / York, United Kingdom based six piece Her Name Is Calla (formed in 2004) and signed to the ace indie label Gizeh Records in 2007.
Their 2008 released album, ‘The Heritage’, was described as ‘a masterpiece of modern music ’ by the Sonic Dice and the band described as ‘one of the most daring, unconventional bands the UK has to offer’, by Drowned in Sound. The album has now sold out but a repressing is due through a joint venture by Gizeh and HNIC’s German label Denovali (Scraps of Tape, Jeniferever). Denovali will release a limited edition vinyl version of the album also.
Artist – Her Name Is Calla
Album – The Heritage
Release Date – 2008
Genre – Experimental, Dark-core, Post-rock
Tracklist
1 Nylon 6:30
2 New England 9:14
3 Paying for Your Funeral 5:02
4 Wren 5:21
5 Motherfucker! It’s Alive and It’s Bleeding 8:10
6 Rebirth 17:03
There Will Be Fireworks - There Will Be Fireworks (2009)
There could hardly be more lovely an opening to an album than “Colombian Fireworks”, the first song from There Will Be Fireworks‘ self-titled debut album. The electronic soundscape and mechanical effects give way to a guitar’s sparse wail and the slow tones of Stornoway poet Kevin MacNeil. I actually met MacNeil once, but that’s a sad and humorous story for another day.
There Will Be Fireworks is an incredibly fluid record: ebbing and flowing from acoustic love-songs to sweeping post-rock, and seeming entirely timeless while doing it. As the perfect innocence of young love in “Guising” explodes into the frenetic chaos of “Off With Their Heads”, it’s hard to tell where one song ends and the next begins, making it feel cohesive and fragmented at the same time: an epic series of starkly juxtaposed movements.
The gentle piano and slow brass of “A Kind of Furnace” seems so far removed from the crashing climax of “We Were A Roman Candle”, but it works so seamlessly that you find yourself unable to argue. The live-recorded instrumentation lends the sound a unique warmth and urgency, and it’s simply beautiful.
Everything about this album - from the subtle interweaving of precise guitars, classical instruments, and electronic noise to Nicholas McManus’ emotive vocals and thoughtful, charmingly naïve songwriting - comes together to create one of the most sophisticated and varied debut albums I have ever heard.
1. Colombian Fireworks (3:18)
2. So The Story Goes (2:10)
3. Midfield Maestro (3:58)
4. Guising (1:26)
5. Off With Their Heads (3:59)
6. I Like The Lights (1:46)
7. A Kind Of Furnace (7:30)
8. We Sleep Through The Bombs (4:15)
9. Headlights (4:10)
10. We Were A Roman Candle (4:10)
11. Says Aye (4:45)
12. Foreign Thoughts (3:28)
13. Joined Up Writing (7:32)
Tracklist:
1) A Three-Legged Workhorse (09:12)
2) Villa Del Refugio (07:06)
3) Threads (05:41)
4) Leather Wings (03:30)
5) The Mighty Rio Grande (11:18)
6) They Move On Tracks Of Never-Ending Light (06:59)
7) Burial On The Presidio Banks (07:43)
The Pirate Ship Quintet is a post-rock septet, originally from Bournemouth and Bristol. Their cellist is a full time member of one of Britain’s most commended symphony orchestras as well as being a stand in for the famous London Symphony Orchestra. The hugely praised debut, self-titled EP, mastered by Cult of Luna’s Magnus Lindberg, was released in April 2007.
selected tracks:
1. 01 - lost science
2. 02 - i kina spiser de hund
3. 03 - pirate ship
The Evpatoria Report was born in January 2002 and the band consists of two guitars, a bass, drums, a violin and a keyboard. The band offers an instrumental rock combining serenity, power and intensity. In order to enrich some of its compositions, The Evpatoria Report is willing to collaborate with other musicians, as it was the case with Reverse Engineering, the Orchestra of Ribaupierre or the Union Choral society of Vevey.
The band’s activity can be summarized through the release of its first EP (2003), followed by its first album "Golevka" (2005) as well as through life performances, in particular with Mono (2004), Calexico (2004) and Red Sparowes (2006). The Evpatoria Report currently works on a new album and maintains a keen interest for all sort of project, notably that of a soundtrack.
Cul de Sac formed in 1990 in boston, massachusetts, taking their name from a Roman Polanski film. Led by guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Glenn Jones, Cul de Sac’s music is primarily instrumental - although vocals from Boston folk legend Dredd Foole graced the bands debut album - drawing inspiration from sources such as 1960s psychedelia, surf-rock, Middle Eastern folk music, krautrock, John Fahey and “american primitive folk music,” free jazz, and the more industrial elements of the avant-garde.
01. Death Kit Train
02. The Moon Scolds The Morning Star
03. Stranger At Coney Island
04. Homunculus
05. Portland Cement Factory At Monolith, California
06. Nico's Dream
07. The Invisible Worm
08. Song To The Siren
09. Electar
10. Lauren's Blues
Virvel was founded in 2000, in Belgrade, Serbia. Its members are: Tijana Drobac: bass, vocal, Zoran Stojcic: guitar and noise, Zeljko Jankovic: drums, percussions, Dejan Drobac: guitar, emulator. Band members gained experience through years of work in several renowned Belgrade’s bands before they have reached the top of their creativity under the name of Virvel. So far, the group has held countless successful concerts, and has recorded two albums. Virvel is a unique appearance in the region of ex-Yugoslavia. Not being afraid to search through the sound and through their own emotions, the members of the band create an authentic sensibility which they all instinctively reached the moment they got together. Experimentation with almost every musical genre makes the concert of Virvel an exceptional experience. The sound of this band, usually described by critics as postrock, actually represents the creation of atmosphere of other possibilities by using the basic rock tools. Believing in the alternative reality, members of the band principally avoid the media. They release their albums in their own record label, choosing by themselves the people to collaborate with and the way to do it.
01 - Brzi Svemir
02 - Opet Jutro
03 - … I Tu Se Stvar Zakomplikovala
04 - Charade
05 - Isto Kao Što Je Uvek I Bilo
06 - Das Boot
07 - Težak Dan
08 - Za Kraj
09 - Uspavanka
Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia.... - Indian Ink (2002)
Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia… were a band from Oxford, UK. The group was founded in 1999 by guitarist and sampler Pete Williams, keyboardist Tim Croston, singer Ed Carder, guitarist James Shames, singer Emily Gray, and guitarist and drum machine operator Mark Halloran; all students at the University of Oxford. Ed left fairly early in the band’s history, and Ollie Clueit joined on bass. Pete would later leave shortly after their debut album Indian Ink was released, and Mark departed during the recording of their follow-up My Elixir; My Poison. The band eventually split in 2004.
01- No cigar
02- Delay-decay-attack
03- Blindspot/Invisible bend
04- Sacred mountain
05- Acid drops
06- Life-support
07- Now I am lifting
08- Morning after pill
