31 December 2010

Interpol - Interpol



















 (Rating: 2.8/5)
Listen Music Samples
Watch Live Video


It's a really disappointing album for the band to just repeating their past stuffs of so-called post punk music without any new inspiration, imagination and idea.....the more commercial monotone approach (like the path that Editor walking into) makes the situation of the band even worse and embarrassing.....to become neither a real commercially successful act nor a cool indie rockers!!! You will remember nothing after a listen!! 

Amiina - Puzzle



















(Rating: 3.7/5)

Like most of others, knowing the quartet Amiina is due to their play as the string section for Sigur Ros. Honestly, I have certain expectation from them initially....nevertheless, their debut album ‘Kurr’ released in 2007 is a huge disappointment for me with those overly subtle, light, self-contained, polite, cautious instrumental post rock music…..like 4 shy girls sitting straight properly weaving scarf of songs motionlessly whispering each other quietly throughout the album…..quite a dull and tasteless debut!!
After 3 years of works, Amiina come back with this album released from their own label with addition of 2 members for drum and electronics……make their soft, intimate, melodic and more song based post rock music more lively and richly arranged this time with more up beat rhythm and electronic layers……seemingly a more ambitious move in this album and their music tend to be more bright, poppy and twee this time....reminds me of those familiar post rock/electro folk bands like mum, etc. or those from Morr's label!!


29 December 2010

Supersilent - 11




















(Rating: 3.7/5)
Listen Music Samples
Watch Live Video

When you think their '10' sets a new direction of more soft/acoustic approach of their music for future, '11' just brings you back to their good old days with those familiar improv rock/avant jazz jam in cool break beat, analogue synth, etc.  .....nevertheless, as '11' collects recordings from the same sessions of '8' that was originally planned as a triple release, you will feel there's no main theme (at times songs oddly selected) and also lack of coherence and consistence in this album......individually good but not a solid album collectively!!  
 

Phonophani - Kreken


















(Rating: 3.3/5)
Listen Music Samples
Watch Music Video

Phonophani, aka Espen Sommer Eide, is not really like Rune Grammofon artist.......his improv electronica/digital processing music mixing with some Scandinavian folk and acoustic sources seems more likely as Fonal stuffs.....remind me KEMIALLISET YSTAVAT.....nevertheless, I found this album is quite directionless with lot of ambitious exploration, but somehow to be incoherent at times!!!

28 December 2010

Islaja - Keraaminen Paa



















(Rating: 3.3/5)
Listen Music Sample
Watch Live Video


Islaja aka Merja Kokkonen’s last album ‘Ulual Yyy’ in 2007 is one of my best albums in recent years......she created those contemporary psyche freak folk music with a unique vibe like being alone in a dream/nightmare of Finnish forest with so-close-far-away mysterious haunting female voice and distorted out-of-tone organ, guitar, etc instrumental sound around.....
Nevertheless, her latest album continue no more the same vibe.....conversely, she focuses more on production side for her folk stuffs with more song-based, polish, melodic and poppy approach......to becoming an more ordinary album and make her a bit disappointing comeback!!



Pan Sonic - Gravitoni



















(Rating: 3.7/5)
Listen Music Samples
Watch Live Video

It’s always that you need guts to listen Pan Sonic album as the duo has always tried to go extremes for their industrial IDM/power electronic noise music……this also will be their last album after the 17 years together….so same again, bet for more accessible industrial techno or abrasive electronic noise when starting to listen their album….the answer of this time is later one with very raw, challenging and brutal high pressure electronic noise…you can really feel the sensual sound check of electric voltage and current passing through your eardrum…..very isolated, cold, angular and metallic sound that you have to prepare yourself before pressing PLAY button!!! After going through the challenging 1st half, the 2nd half of the album is flowing to more industrial ambient sound that you will feel more comfortable to deal with and the album is ending in such a cool and cold dead way…..a final album that make sense for this experimental duo spent years to explore the lonely territories of industrial electronic sound!!    


22 December 2010

anbb - mimikry


















(Rating: 3.5/5)

This album with a cool & weird cover art is collaborated by 2 giants of current independent music scene…..one is minimal micro-electronic glitch pioneer Alva Noto aka Carsten Nicolai and the other one is the legendary industrial/experimental band Einstürzende Neubauten’s front man Blixa Bargeld…….so you might expect some chemical reaction happens that we can quantify something like 1+1=3…….to say that, I will think this release of Raster Noton is just somehow to be 1+1=2…..  Blixa Bargeld’s vocal dominated the vibe and Alva Noto’s micro-sound is just served as some background supplement…..the feeling is they are detached and playing their own stuffs in their own area without really crushing mixing together as a whole….nevertheless, still a album worth for a listen!!


World's End Girlfriend - Seven Idiots

(Rating: 3.5/5)
Listen Music Samples
Watch Music Video

World’s End Girlfriend's last album “Hurtbreak Wonderland” is one of my best albums in last decade and also reached the peak of his career I think……those unique epic orchestral/glitch post rock music packed with those otherworldly vibe of “helpless psychotic-glamorous end-of-the-world isolated city in future world”…..truly beautiful, moving & exciting stuffs!!......so, it’s normal for this one-man-band, Katsuhiko Maeda, to explore new direction in this new album after the long wait…..nevertheless, as his loyal fan, I would say I’m a bit disappointed in his new works….if his last album has got a perfect balance in the lost city vibe of mental disorder  and contemporary glamour…this one is just dominated with insanely amount of mental disorder stuffs……full of mindless quick dense dub/break beat/glitch/IDM sampling sounds and feeling incoherent, excessive and mind-blowing emptiness…..after the excessively-but-for-nothing 1st half songs, the 2nd half of the album returns back his familiar orchestral post rock sound which brings back some consolation to audience……not a bad album, but it’s surely a love-or-hate album!! 

Innocence Mission - My Room in the Trees



















(Rating: 3.5/5)

Compared to 2007's excellent "We Walked in Song" that is full of high and low acoustic guitar finger pick in praise of life, this one is more soothing and laid back approach with more soft acoustic music and angel voice of sing-a-long for winter season you sneaking in bed feeling warm and intimate!! 






Supersilent - 10



















(Rating: 3.8/5)

Their last album "9" is not really impressive for me as the threesome explore more deep & dark atmospheric approach.....the band has changed their direction again this time with more soft acoustic approach with trumpet, Hammond organ, piano solo effort slowly weaving and pushing the climax to last song 10.12.....no more free-jazz/avant rock jam again this time, but their new direction really gives a lively refreshing comeback!!

The American




































(Rating: 3.8/5)

Ocean Eleven's overly commercial George Clooney is just too dominated over my impression to him, so i am not really interested in this movie initially......decide to watch the movie as some critics rate the movie high and knowing the mighty Anton Corbijn as director.....it's a simple killer's love story with single line development to see how a killer decides to quit his profession for a love affair with a prostitute with a sad tragic ending.....in fact nothing special in term of story itself, but Anton Corbijn made the difference with his exceptional beautiful and stylish photography (reminds me his MV works for Depeche Mode , U2, etc) shot in Italy and the moody art house approach......not an excellent movie, but of course worthy to watch.......

Oval - O



















(Rating: 3.8/5)
Listen Music Samples
Watch Live Video

I got a 2LP version of this new album of Markus Popp aka the legendary Oval with a merely reasonable 26 songs......just can't imagine how can the 2CD version having more than 70 songs.....simply a test for listener's patience....this Oval's new album in a decade is full of his glitch sound fragment exploration of guitar riff tuned in high pitch tone, times with some contemporary jazzy drumming to release some tension of his serious sound art sculpture.....the feeling throughout the album is like a firework factory on fire with multi-directional sound heading to listener's mind......quite a breathtaking experience!!



7 December 2010

Hildur Gudnadottir - Mount A





(Rating: 4/5)

This is a remastered reissue from Hildur Gudnadottir's 2006 release which under her another artist name of 'Lost in hildurness'......... as a classical trained cellist, the icelandic explores the experimental/avant-garde territories of beautiful and melancholic composition, loop and drone sound through the acoustic source of her cello, viola, vibraphone, piano, etc ...... accessible and wonderful stuffs!! 

6 December 2010

ATP Music Festival - I'll Be Your Mirror



ATP will host their first ever music festival in Japan headlined by the mighty Godspeed You! Black Emperor.....already booked my tickets and look forwards to flying there in next February....

More information can be obtained from the below link:

5 December 2010

Laetitia Sadier - The Trip



















(Rating: 3.5/5)

It's always hard for front vocalists to be successful in their solo release especially like the legendary Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier with her overly trademark voice for Stereolab in last 20 years.........still that Stereolab-patented voice of her, nevertheless the music is more chill-out/new wave approach that make this album detachs the shadow of Stereolab on its own sound......not a bad effort, a comfortable, catchy and relaxing listening experience!! 


Yann Tiersen - Dust Lane


(Rating: 3.8/5)

In this new album, Yann Tiersen has completely walked away from our beloved classical/orchestral french folk/pop that we can see how good of a contemporary music composer, violin player and music minimalist he is......intimate/romantic french mood of accordion, violin, piano and toy instruments have no more played main role this time, and instead traditional rock instruments of guitars/drums have been taking the focus to relief Yann Tiersen's dark and sad mind (for the death of his mother recently?!) playing some emotional post punk stuffs as the below statement in his web site....  

"Let's live in an enormous world of sound we can use randomly, with no rules at all. Let's play with sound, forget all knowledge and instrumental skills, and just use instinct – the same way punk did."

Although needing a bit of time to adapt his new music direction, by not thinking back his past works, this new album is still worth a listen..... 

2 December 2010

DREAMEND - SO I ATE MYSELF, BITE BY BITE


(Rating: 3.5/5)

Listen Music Samples

Dreamend’s last album “Long Forgotten Friend” is one of my best albums of 2008…...this one man band used to play catchy and faithful post rock music with indie pop/shoegaze leaning in the past…….and now his music becomes more and more poppy as indie pop music with post rock leaning….nevertheless, he still can produce such unique dark and sensitive music with honest vocal singing….after repetitive listening, I still found I’m not too impressive with this latest works as the past stuffs except the highly collectible limited pictured LP as shown in the below video…..  


Squarepusher - Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator

Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator

(Rating: 3/5)
Listen Music Samples
Watch Music Video

If you're his die hard fan or you like R&B stuffs, you might rate this Squarepusher's latest output high.......but as me fancy with his eclectic electronica in the past, I found it's hard to adapt this one in such new (or strange) exploration/direction filled with lot of R&B, synth pop and vocoder sound in rather fast tempo stuffs..... my feeling is that it's not like anything (faceless as the cover art), not dance music as not really danceable, not too electronica as not cool enough, not really R&B as lack of the soulful touch.....still a listenable album but in disappointed way!! 

Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love

Write About Love

(Rating: 4/5)
Listen Music Samples
Watch Live Video
Watch TV Show Live Video

You might have heard someone says "Everything changes except change itself".....I will say everything changes except Belle & Sebastian.....for 14 years since 1996 of the wonderful debut "Tiger Milk", they never changed their music style (and the gorgeous cover art also)....such intimacy twee pop/folk stuffs just keep reminding us how memorable of the golden age in our college years together with close friends playing acoustic guitars, strings singing folk songs with couple of beautiful and fatty female classmates wearing such innocent skirts.......Nevertheless, within their music, they are still having good or bad and this latest one is a good ones after the rather disappointed "Life Pursuit" in 2006......."Write about Love" have more gentle and soft approach of their trademark acoustic/folk ballads with Norah Jones in guest vocal ......making this album a even more enjoyable listening stuffs!!