★KRAAK
III
LP version. III projects the atmosphere of Jack London and The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog onto a modern world ruled by technology. Devens brings us the most genuine melancholy contemporary pop music has seen since quite some time. This album leaves the underground scenery that is troubled by trends so often far behind and just shows us the pure essence of what Music has to be: raw emotions put to sound. With his third full album Bram Devens has once again amazed us with a masterpiece. In his usual …
Tout Ploie
él-g makes a strange mix of French ballads and avant-garde song-writing. A pig-headed approach of the French language and ingenious arrangments are the core business of this dude. Tout Ploie is a compilation of both the best tracks from previously released cdr’s and new work. él-g appears as a sort of modern day miniature version of Serge Gainsbourg on this debut-lp. The female singer, Charlene Darling, who accompanies him throughout the most part of the record only makes this comparison more ap…
Vallee de Dith
Ernesto González traded the Chavez regime for comfortable living in a dreary place called Waterloo, near Brussels. He picked up the guitar, practiced his Hendrix skills, got introduced to the world of scorching fuzz, demented kraut rock jams, drone lords and kosmik trance and decided he could as well do all that shit by himself. After his debut on Gipsy Sphinx, Vallée de Dith is his second official solo outing, leaving the drone in second position and focussing heavily on kraut rock work-o…
We need more space in the cosmos
The comeback we were all waiting for! Ever since his “Bruce Willis” album (Western Vinyl, 2003) Jürgen De Blonde mainly focussed on music for dance and theatre productions. Until recently when he relived his old synthesizer fetish. This finally resulted in “We Need More Space In The Cosmos”, an ode to lost hero’s such as Klaus Schulze and Jean-Michel Jarre. The album recalls eighties electronics, i.e. an era when kraut rock culminated into new space ages and cosmic television soundtracks. But st…
THIS PLACE IS DREAMING
An attempt to convert Brussels' sonic reality into music. Mutated environmental sound materials gathered in Brussels, remixes of interviews with inhabitants and extracts of installations are flanked with atmospheric compositions made with sounds from other cities and countries.
Tau
Main is back in grand form... After finalising his Firmanent CD's it's been a bit quiet around Robert Hampson. Although very busy with other projects as Comae (with Janek Schaefer), Chasm (Fatcat), his main output has been a bit low. Tau shows the first full album in years from a talent whom showed us the way to turn guitars into ambient. His unique way of concrete sounds and manipulating these into something of his own has always been his identity. Tau is no more or less a classic mover for qui…
Out
Janek Schaefer is an architect. This might explain his vision on his music. A good building closes up into your memory without you even noticing it. The same goes for Schaefer's soundsculptures. Clearly structured soundloops baffling their way into perception. You can use his music in art-galleries, train-stations, living-rooms: anywhere really. Each time/place conducts his work to a different perception. Even a high volume or low volume defines another way in the listening experience which unfo…
II
The debut of ignatz is still fresh in your memory, and he's already there with the follow up. On ignatz II, he continues his road through the Appalachians in the year 2050. Stunning rootsfolk, but played by a lost and unworldly creature. 'II' still has that familiar ignatz sound we love so much, with the difference that on one of the six tracks he doesn't use any effects. He even mumbles more clearly and explores his own musical world more thoroughly. If Lou Reed would have fertilized Cthulhu in…
Untitled
'Growing up on a diet of '90s lo-fi, old blues and the Smithsonian Antology Of Folk Devens calls himself a lo-fi fascist. When he was just 15 years old he used to unroll old cassettes, rumple the tape and roll it back on. While recording he kicked his four-track to experiment with the wow-and-flutter effect or he just layed down his tapes in the pouring rain.And like a mouse always finds the way to the cheese, Ignatz stayed true to his roots. He wraps up his folkish guitar music in a cloud of ef…
Swimming in it
Another absolutely essential vinyl only album this time from New Zealander Greg Malcolm. Working as a perfect companion piece to the wonderful Es album, 'Swimming In It' sounds like an on-form John Fahey jamming with Morton Subotnick - it's really that good. As unusual synthesized bleeps and drones cut through Malcolm's lovingly finger picked guitar playing it is easy to realise how so many people have been touting this as a potential album of 2005. I was actually quite taken aback when I first …