Our Daily Bread 581: Colin Dyer ’47ram Negativ65′
July 4, 2023
ALBUM REVIEW BY ANDREW C. KIDD
Colin Dyer ’47ram Negativ65′
(Schematic Music Company)
Colin Dyer’s music is multidimensional. In 2020, he released the cryptic Cypher (the tracks are written in Morse code) – imagine an Iannis Xenakis composition tapped slowly through a war-time telegraph. Then there is the inexplicably meditative Vector Caliente, released in 2022. His 30-track The Cyberneticist, published in the same year, is finely crafted musical fantascience. Listen to tracks such as rest Tybie technic which imbue the sonic strangeness of earliest Ross 154 on the Eevo Lute Muzique label, and the twenty-six track – Bettie recti synch 2 – which is like a condensed Knowledge Through Science by Richard H. Kirk. His latest release on the Schematic Music Company label is titled 47ram Negativ65.
Zap! The zither-like boings and laser effects on the opening track Ph6Fenix scan across the listener’s aural frequencies, splitting all in its atonal path. This is cold futurism. The hit-hat deconstruction is clever. The reverberating two-key melody is eventually hauled back from the ashes as its title perhaps alludes to. It is not entirely dissonant; the otherworldly vacillating synthesiser melody on Ph6Fenix imbues a calm neutrality, serving to soften the sound. The rhythm is coppery – it is slowly oxidised by the vocals. damb loop is scalene, a triangle with unequal measure. The steely synthesisers scythe away until their breakdown in the final third. The track tailspins around in dysrhythmic chaos until Dyer eventually resuscitates the original melody – perhaps he could have progressed the sound a little further at this point? Either way, damb loop is zoopraxiscopic: a one-reeler.
Various intelligent dance music artists are referenced in the accompanying press release: Autechre, Dopplereffekt, Unit Moebius / Bunker Records, et cetera. probability acid is the closest that Dyer comes to the experimental idiosyncrasies of these stalwarts. Ultimately, he achieves a Yevgeny Zamyatin-like dystopia: glassy, repetitive – numeric. “Every billionaire on this planet is a parasiiiiite”, announces the vocalist on 7061726173697465. From the politically rouge origins to the militaristic two-set rhythm, it is a metaphor for the hard-knuckled fist of authoritarianism. Unlike the other tracks, its sound is contained. It does not expand exponentially; rather, it remains quietly amelodic, and brutal. Dyer is no stranger to Morse code (remember Cypher) – the Morse code translation of 6opC68ance is -…. — .–. -.-. -…. —.. .- -. -.-. . Multiple frequencies are sent out like this in quick-fire volleys to disorientate the listener.
Dyer’s scholastic achievement on 47ram Negativ65 is his effective use of xenharmonic scales: the claustrophobic pitching heightens the overarching theme of oppression. In equal measure are the moments of sonic elevation akin to the hyper-intelligence of a Poul Anderson novel. Admittedly, it does border on being unchanging at times, but so be it given its inaesthetic dystopian theme. If there is any respite from the dissonance and microtonality, it is listening to Dyer’s dexterity in compositional form.
Monthly Playlist: June 2023: Valia Calda, Killer Mike, Sparks, Kool Keith, Luzmila Carpio…
June 29, 2023
THE JUNE SELECTION: 50 plus tracks from the artists/bands we championed, rated and loved during the last thirty days. This is the eclectic, global and influential Monolith Cocktail Monthly Playlist, with music chosen from all the releases we covered in June plus those we didn’t have room for at that time. Selectors include Dominic Valvona (who curated this expansive playlist), Matt Oliver, Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea, Andrew C. Kidd and Graham Domain.
___TRACKLIST___
Valia Calda ‘Stalker’
La Jungle ‘La Compagnie de la Chanson’
Ramuntcho Matta ‘Hukai’
Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra ‘Nation Rising’
Killer Mike Ft. Jagged Edge ‘SUMMER’
Royalz Ft. THE HIDDEN CHARACTER ‘God In Da Ghetto’
Professor Elemental ‘Ready Or Not’
DJ Mk & Sonnyjim ‘WORTH THE RISK’
Revival Season ‘Chop’
Vieira and The Silvers ‘The Judge’
Trees Speak ‘Radiation’
Cat Box Room Bois ‘California Stars’
ANGHARAD ‘Postpartum’
Outer Limit Lotus ‘Let The Night Ride You’
The Kingfishers ‘Lapwings’
Sedona ‘Domino’
Katie Von Schleicher Ft. Lady Lamb ‘Elixir’
Mari Kalkun ‘Munamae Loomine (The Creation Of Munamagi|)’
Sparks ‘Not That Well Defined’
Bob Dylan ‘Queen Jane Approximately’
Maija Sofia ‘Four Winters’
Mike Cooper Ft. Viv Corringham ‘A Lemon Fell’
Dirty Dike Ft. Jam Baxter ‘The Places We’ve Been In’
The Chives ‘Your Mom’s A Bitch’
Lunch Money Life ‘The God Phone II’
Martha Skye Murphy ‘Dogs’
Sacrobosco ‘Pearl’
CODED ‘Binary Beautiful (Sunshine Variation)’
Baldruin ‘Zuruckgelassen’
Lauren Bousfield Ft. Ada Rock ‘Hazer’
Ital Tek ‘The Mirror’
Joe Woodham ‘Spring Tides’
WITCH ‘Streets Of Lusaka’
Celestial North ‘Otherworld’
Psyche ‘Kuma’
Omar Ahmad ‘Cygnet Song’
Luzmila Carpio ‘Inti Watana – El Retorno del Sol’
Ricardo Dias Gomes ‘Invernao Astral’
Andrew Heath ‘Fold’
Granny Smith ‘Egypt’
Spindle Ensemble & Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan ‘Lucid Living – Live’
Pawz One & Preed One ‘Revenge Of Silky Johnson’
ILL BILL, Non Phixion, La Coka Nostra, Kool G. Rap, Vinnie Paz ‘Root For The Villain’
Syrup Ft. Twit One, C. Tappin & Turt ‘Timing Perfect’
John Coltrane Ft. Eric Dolphy ‘Impressions – Live’
Vermin the Villain & ELAM ZULA ‘POWER OF TWO’
King Kashmere & Alecs Delarge Ft. HPBLK, Ash The Author & Booda French ‘Astro Children’
Lukah ‘First Copy’
Kool Keith ‘First Copy’
Stik Figa & The Expert ‘Slo Pokes’
S. Kalibre Ft. Scoob Rock, Slap Up Mill, Jabba The Kut ‘Murda Sound Bwoy’
Verbz, Nelson Dialect & Mr. Slipz ‘Beside Me’
Dillion & Diamond D ‘Uncut Gems’
Our Daily Bread 579: Ital Tek ‘Timeproof’
June 22, 2023
ALBUM REVIEW/ANDREW C. KIDD
Ital Tek ‘Timeproof’
Timeproof is a soundtrack of our time: sobering; fierce – Hitchcockian. It is the seventh album of Alan Myson, better known as Ital Tek. Early Ital Tek was different. Cyclical (2008) was under-appreciated and served as a fine example of expansionist dubstep. Midnight Colour (2010) was two-/dubstep heavy with a blurrier focus on bass; it crossed the melodic line into intelligent dance music. Nebula Dance (2012) was pure footwork at a time when his label (Planet Mu) were dropping their hugely influential Bangs and Works Volumes. He took an abstract view of drum n’ bass on his sub-half hour mini-album Control (2013): the amen break was observed through broken glass. It was maddeningly chaotic. Conversely, the rhythmless Zero was the highlight on that release – shattering mellow synth and choral notes were released like steam from a venting fumarole*. Ital Tek’s sound changed dramatically thereafter. In Hollowed (2014) he actually entered the fumarole. He continues to inhabit this lightless space. His explorations have taken him through the metamorphic mantles, onwards to the metallic core. I recently revisited some of his previous extended plays. Dissonance featured heavily on Seraph (2020): an example of this is the opening chords on Granite & Glass. The choppy snare drums on the title track recalled his dubstep origins; its back-lit harpsichords ripped the whole sound open. Throughout Seraph I had visions of water. It was as if I was listening to something immensely epic that had been fully submersed. The melancholic Hazed cascaded like a waterfall: I watched its waters pile over a precipice in real-time – in my mind, the water reversed back upwards. After on The Speed of Darkness EP (2017) had brought me to a similarly restful space.
In stark contrast, Timeproof seeks to discompose. Ultimately, it is an aural observation on that great unknowable construct: time. The glass-seated chair that sits in the centre of the accompanying album art is hallucinatory. The chrome finish reflects inwards rather than outwards. Time is clearly considered to be recondite here, and surrealist (like the accompanying art). To the music! Granular subterranean tones flow beneath Phantom Pain. Ital Tek has opted for a different drum programme from what I can discern: early Skull Disco label meets the machinations of The Bug meets even earlier John Carpenter. It is as mettlesome as anticipated; son futur, musical noir played through voltage-controlled filters and a sustained envelope. The synth-glory that sonically needles its why into one’s ears was there in 2016 when he released his Beyond Sight EP; specifically, the final piece, Until The End Of Time. The opposing mellow hues split across a sunrise on Staggered. The two-keyed notes ascend before being called back in semi-tonic descent. It is monastic and fleeting – catharsis after the opening assault. Heart String is suspenseful with a locomotive-like opening as the chords are played through pulsing low-rpm drums. It beckons a deeper sub-melody that is improvised (rather oddly, I am reminded of Keith Hopwood and Malcolm Rowe’s score to the 1989 film adaptation of The BFG here, particularly the dissonant dreamcatcher sequences). It ends in an ascending tremolo to anti-climax. Darking proceeds and is empirical. Its movements blindside the listener. The synthesiser melody almost tears through the headphones to reveal a mathematical harpsichord melody is akin to ‘future baroque’. This Bach-like and cyclically-variable approach is evident on the hymnal Open Heart on his Outland LP as it switches to a quasi-organ sound around its midpoint. There are elements of Underworld and Jon Hopkins here (particularly the waltzing treble kick that staccato into an off-beat which is a signature of the latter artist). Ital Tek has been here before: listen to Time Burns Heavy on his Dream Boundary EP (2020). Similarly, on this LP, counterpoint synthesiser melodies play out on One Eye Open and Zero Point. As its title suggests: Darking is to be listened to underground. Hear, hear! to Ital Tek the fatalistic.
Zero Point is another good example of Ital Tek’s mastering of suspense: off-cut synths and synth waves pulse and swell; distorted sawing gnaws away to eventually overwhelm; a clever cut reveals a lithe, two-tone sub-melody. The rhythm section muscles-in as an early double-kick, part-syncopated and cyclical 4-4. Fourth dimensional bells are dissonant – they jangle, elevating the piece. The sub-bass is given momentary reprieve to breath. The latter has become a signature of Ital Tek: musical deconstruction in an act of self-interrogation followed by a systematic reworking that leads to reimagined drops or a cleverly concealed false summit as is the case on Zero Point. The tracks Endless and Oblivion Theme on his remarkable Outland long play (2020) also embody this metaphor of compositional disintegration.
Timeproof offers moments akin to a dystopian mass for modern times. Listen to the modular sequences that cascade on the The Mirror. Synth-swords are sharpened. Its beat is hi-hat-less grunge – trap for the modern era. Peremptory and leaden, the kick drum batters at the walls. On Cold Motion Ital Tek sustains the notes like the ambient-noire of Vangelis. It would suit the slow-shot of a Tarkovsky film: think the railroad sequence on Stalker (1979), or the Earth scene from Solaris (1972). The aesthetic is cataclysmal: slow-build; bittersweet melodia; major and minor progressions. The album becomes canonical at the juncture of its final two tracks: The Next Time You Die and the title track. The former opens with arresting vocals sung in strange triads. The melody is inconsistent and broken. The synths offset this, but only a little. It is a chorus of the two worlds that Ital Tek inhabits. The motif played on the organ at 2-minutes 34-seconds is progressed slightly until we are guided into the crypt. It is stony and marbled and mottled, yet in the same breathe, life-giving. The final (and title) track opens with low-frequency strings in a similar mode to the double basses that build upon the Aeolian scale of the opening movement of Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 3, Op. 36. The organ-like movement from the preceding track reappears; except, this time, it is held longer. The keys are pressed harder. They sustain and are sustained until they cannot sustain any more. The cacophony of sounds are pained. It grimaces at you, and eventually, a sardonic smile appears. The body of sound is then laid to rest. I think of many things when listening to this album. The sound is cathedralic. At points, it is cinematic. Ultimately, my thoughts rest on a chrysalis. From its ominous opening to hymnal finish, Timeproof grows inside a cocoon of polyrhythm and sub-melody until its wings eventually open to close, making a final and magnific opening in conquering glory.
*a fumarole is an opening in the Earth’s crust through which steam and gases are released
ANDREW C. KIDD
Monthly Playlist: May 2023: Delilah Holliday, Tony Allen, Alecs DeLarge & King Kashmere, Lucia Cadotsch…
May 31, 2023
CHOICE MUSIC FROM THE LAST MONTH: TEAM EFFORT
The Monthly Revue playlist of 2023; a choice selection of tracks from the last month on the blog. Curated by Dominic Valvona with Matt Oliver on the Rap Control once more, and music from reviews by Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea, Graham Domain and Andrew C. Kidd. Expect to hear the unexpected.
TRACKLIST//
Alecs DeLarge & King Kashmere ‘Damien Darhk’
Samuele Strufaldi ‘Davorio’
Les Dynamites ‘Pop Oud #2’
Andrew Hung ‘Ocean Mouth’
Matt Saxton ‘Freedom’
John Parish & Aldous Harding ‘Three Hours’
Lunar Bird ‘The Birthday Party’
YOVA ‘Feel Your Fear’
Atmosphere ‘Dotted Lines’
Illogic ‘Hot Lead’
Odd Holiday, Mattic & Daylight Robbery! ‘It Is Whut It Iz’
Delilah Holliday ‘Silent Streets’
Big Yawn ‘Crying’
Tony Allen ‘No Beginning’
Harold Land ‘Chocolate Mess’
Baby Cool ‘Magic (Live)’
Dyr Faser ‘This Menace’
Mekong ‘Out Of Control’
The Telescopes ‘(The Other Side)’
The Bordellos ‘Attack Of The Killer B-Sides’
Adjunct Ensemble ‘Nothing Grows/How Dare You Be Free’
Kassa Overkill, Danny Brown & Wiki ‘Clock Ticking’
Depf & Linefizzy ‘My Love’
Paw One ‘Sepekku’
Cas One ‘Silver Spoons’
Axel Holy & Badhabitz ‘Runnin’
Efeks, The Strange Neighbour & Downstroke ‘Its Only Right’
Chocolate Hills ‘Mermaids’
Orange Crate Art ‘We’re Just Innocent Men’
Tinariwen Ft. Fats Kaplin ‘Ezlan’
Cherry Bandora ‘Esy’
Danuk ‘Sewqo’
Lucia Cadotsch ‘I Won’t’
Jman & The Argonautz ‘Green Light’
Chuck Strangers & Obii Say ‘Say’
Billy Woods, Kenny Segal & Danny Brown ‘Year Zero’
Caterina Barbieri ‘Swirls Of You’
August Cooke ‘Flying Swimming Dredging’
Liz Davinci ‘I’m Through With Love’
Kayhan Kalhor & Toumani Diabate ‘Anywhere That Is Not Here’
Oceans ‘Mike Tysong’
Creep Show Ft. John Grant ‘Moneyback’
Jean Mignon ‘Canadian Exit’
GRAHAM DOMAIN’S RUN-THROUGH OF RECENT AND UPCOMING NEW RELEASES
__/SINGLES\__
THE TELESCOPES ‘Where Do We Begin’
(Tapete Records) (Download only Single)
It seems only vocalist Stephen Lawrie remains from the original group and only his voice reminds of The Telescopes classic sound!
This is the first single taken from forthcoming album Of Tomorrow. As such, it sounds a bit like the House of Love with Lou Reed – a psychedelic song about filling in the hole in your soul with more emptiness – the modern consumer society looking for fulfillment amid the waffle of internet influencers, ‘reality’ celebrity and brand name hypnosis! I await the new album with interest!
MATT SAXTON ‘Freedom’
(Bandcamp) (Download Single)
This is an electronic track with folktronica leanings that reminds me of John Grant. It’s a delight – like eating your favourite ice cream! Give it a listen while eating a Cornetto!
YOVA ‘Feel Your Fear’
(Bandcamp) (Download Single)
Unusual pop song from Yova – interesting, odd and compelling! Yova are a duo – with exposure they could be massive!
SALEM TRIALS ‘ESPERS SYC (See Your Crime)’ / ‘End of Level Boss’
(Metal Postcard) (Download Double A Side Single)
Excellent Double A Side from Salem Trials – ‘Espers SYC’ comes across like the Fall playing a speeded-up Joy Division ‘Exercise One’ – some nice jarring chords and fried bacon rhythm!
With singalongs like ‘reasonable doubt my arse’ it could become a staple at Strangeways Indie disco! The crime? Presumably using your intuition (ESP) – contravening Section 7 of the State Controlled Thought Act 2023.
‘End of Level Boss’ meanwhile conjures up the ghost of Ian Curtis dancing to James Brown after the sacked JB’s were replaced by a funky Sunn O))) – Mesmeric!
___/ALBUMS\___
OCEANS ‘Dreamers in Dark Cities’
(Bandcamp) (Vinyl/DL)
There are a few bands named Oceans but this particular band hail from Melbourne Australia. They sound like they have been listening to a lot of 1980’s indie music like the Sound, the Chameleons, New Model Army, Cocteau Twins, Pale Saints, Slowdive, The Scars.
‘Pure’ sounds like a poppier Pale Saints and is perhaps the best song on the album. “I just want to feel alive” he cries as the music rises in life affirming sonic radiance! ‘Apart’ reminds me of the Scars with touches of Ride and Pale Saints. ‘Feels Like You’ hints towards Slowdive, MBV and Ride.
‘Mike Tysong’ sounds like New Model Army circa ‘The Ghost of Cain’ but with vocals akin to Adrian Borland (the Sound of ‘The Lions Roar’ fame). ‘Soft’ has hints of The Chameleons guitar sound combined with vocals akin to Lush! ‘Look Into My Eyes’ employs the 3 / 4 rhythm beloved of The Cocteau Twins circa ‘Treasure’. An album of youthful energy and life affirming beauty. The songs are energetic, well-constructed and well-produced. I like the album, but the band need to bring more of their own creativity to the table so they sound like themselves rather than the sum of their influences. Once they find their own sound, they will be magnificent. They are part way there and I predict great things for them in the future.
CREEP SHOW ‘Yawning Abyss’
(Bella Union) (CD/Download Album)
Make no mistake, John Grant is a genius! As half of Creep Show he provides the moments of sheer joy! ‘Bungalow’ comes over like a song that could have been on any of his brilliant solo albums, post ‘Queen of Denmark’. It’s a fantastic vocal, the music dark, funny, sexy, – electronic music at its best and a good song to boot! Elsewhere we find him singing strange rhymes on the title track ‘Yamning Abyss’ – a song that grows on you with each play.
The band Wrangler are the other half of Creepshow. Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder sharing vocal duties on such tracks as ‘Moneyback’ – “You want your money back / I didn’t think so”! Overall, a fine return from Creep Show who are doing a short tour of the UK over the summer!
JEAN MIGNON ‘AN/AL’
(Metal Postcard) (Download Album)
Raucous debut album by New York based Johnny Steines. A mixture of high energy garage punk and high-speed rock and roll – it sounds like a live album such is the energy contained in the grooves!
‘Tackled By Men’ recycles parts of ‘Jumping Jack Flash’, whilst ‘Canadian Exit’ has echoes of Warsaw’s ‘Failures’. If he can produce this excitement in a live-setting he willsurely make his own impact! Primal Rock and Roll that screams from the speakers andexcites like a high-speed car chase!
Key Tracks: All of them!
The BORDELLOS ‘Starcrossed Radio’
(Metal Postcard Records) (Download Album)
The latest release by St Helens finest is a cabinet of curiosities containing some wonderful lo-fi gems and hitherto lost standards!
Beginning with the glam stomp of ‘Attack of The Killer B-Sides’ – name checking great B- Sides by the likes of The Smiths, Stone Roses, The Beatles, Billy Fury, Shangri-Las, New Order, Rolling Stones, Mersey Beats etc… All delivered in a Mark Smith type drawl. Like any music fan, flipping a 45 over and discovering a great B Side was exciting and would lead to more investigation of the artist’s music.
‘Never Learn’ sounds like a lost standard to me – reminding of Morrissey when he was good, the accordion sound giving it a shade of the Pogues! The nice melody is under-pinned by what sounds like a balloon deflating, a synth or a cat being slowly trod on mixed with static and silence! Experimental brilliance!
‘Free New Music Day’ meanwhile takes the sound of the Doors Texas Radio and the Big Beat and transfers it to Northern England where you can ’take a cut price trip to the stars – singing Hallelujah in Karaoke bars’ – poetry from the streets Jim Morrison could only aspire to!
Other highlights include the strange melody picked out on guitar on ‘Sunk and Screwed’, which could be the theme to a weird kids cartoon! Oddly disturbing! I’m still humming it! ‘Vicious Circle’ could be a single. ‘Hurting Kind’ sounds like a lost Beach Boys campfire surf song – Brilliant!
The album ends with the sublime ‘Life Love and Billy Fury’ – a part electronic song where the melody or maybe some of the chord changes put me in mind of New Order without actually sounding like them! Great lyrics – another ‘lost standard’!
This album is one to treasure, an Aladdin’s cave of eclectic life affirming songs. The Bordellos are the fine web that holds the stars in place!
Monthly Playlist: April 2023: Circe, Micall Parknsun, Suki Sou, Carla Boregas, Ammar 808…
April 27, 2023
CHOICE MUSIC FROM THE LAST MONTH: TEAM EFFORT
The Monthly Revue playlist of 2023; a choice selection of tracks from the last month on the blog. Curated by Dominic Valvona with Matt Oliver on the Rap Control once more, and music from reviews by our latest recruit Gillian Stone plus Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea, Graham Domain and a returning Andrew C. Kidd. Expect to hear the unexpected as we leave you with this 45 track selection before we go off on a May sabbatical (well half of May, be back around the 15th with a packed schedule of choice music).
TRACKLIST//
Altın Gün ‘Çıt Çıt Çedene’
Ammar 808 Ft. Belhassen Mihoub ‘Yarima’
Les Abranis ‘Achethkhi’
Orti, Mayorga y Chiriboga ‘Muñequita Blanca’
Tuzeint ‘Mujer Divina’
United Grind Ft. Gamechangers ‘Doin This All Night’
King Kashmere & Alecs DeLarge ‘Most Blunted’
Neon Kittens ‘Loving Your Neighbour’s Wife’
Opus Kink ‘1:18’
Gabrielle Ornate ‘Delirium’
H. Hawkline ‘Plastic Man’
Land Of OOO ‘Matthew’
African Head Charge ‘A Bad Attitude’
Swans ‘Paradise Is Mine’
The Oldest Voice In The World ‘Talysh Mountain Border’
La Faute ‘The Crown’
fhae ‘Love You’
Alice ‘Triste et tout seul’
foil ‘Don’t Look’
Ali Murray ‘Spirit Of Unknowing’
Khotin ‘Lovely’
MultiTraction Orchestra ‘Reactor One’
Tobias Meinhart ‘Luna Park’
Deca & Ol’ Burger Beats ‘Blight’
Prastense & Shortrock Ft. Uncommon Nasa ‘A Broken Letter’
Micall Parknsun ‘Back’
Your Old Droog ‘Pronouns’
Illinformed Ft. Eric The Red ‘Doctor’
Silver Moth ‘Sedna’
Escupemetralla ‘Several specimens of ruminant animals with large udders chewing grass in a Cambridge meadow’
Sweeney ‘High School Damage’
Ale Hop & Laura Robles ‘Son de los diablos’
Cornelius Corvidae ‘Silver Flower’
James Howard ‘The Reckoning’
Draag ‘Mitsuwa’
Mike Cale ‘Slow Club’
Suki Sou ‘Petrichor’
Issei Herr ‘Aria’
Carla Boregas ‘A Cidade doe Outros’
Simon McCorry ‘Halcyon Fire’
CIEL ‘Somebody’
Tomato Flower ‘Destroyer’
Cindy ‘Earthly Belonging’
Circe ‘Riot Of Sunlight’
Chloe Gallardo ‘Bloodline’
Our Daily Bread 570 : Khotin ‘Release Spirit’
April 18, 2023
ALBUM REVIEW/ANDREW C. KIDD
Khotin ‘Release Spirit’
(Khotin Industries)
I have been following the story of Dylan Khotin-Foote and his musical adventures for nigh on a decade. He released Hello World under his Khotin alias in 2014. New Tab followed. It was a wonderful collection of digital grooves and soundscapes that moved mellifluously through transformational field recordings and unabashed Russiky-Angliysky conservations. Beautiful You was meltingly tender and chock-full of quasi-melodies. It was also somewhat non-conformist and rhythmically periodic – tracks diverged and converged to and from the downtempo (Planet B), vaporwave (Alla’s Scans) and beatless trance musical sub-genres (Vacation). Finds You Well was low-fidelity, tape hissing gold.
It is March 2023. A month has passed since Release Spirit was released on Ghostly International. The harmonic distortion and analogue warmth of HV Road once again immerse me in a vessel of unknowable proportions. A phantasmagoria of tonal and atonal synths playfully hopscotch around on Lovely and My Same Size: synthetic bowed strings vibrato and legato on the former; the semi-automated synths twinkle in the half-light of the latter as its hook climbs up and down a laddering scale akin to the hyper-ambience of his Area 3 alias. The semitonal key drop on the crystalline keys on Unlimited ❤ underpins his predilection for modulation. Home World 303 is unmistakably litmus-red; the bass synthesiser melody ascends up a broad staircase of sound. Khotin progresses his signature melodia, plashing (not saturating) his 4-4 beat with stock cymbal crashes and hi-hat taps.
3 pz delivers the moment of tragicommedia that has become so idiosyncratic with his work. The lithe water-plopping synths and whirling synths gently cycle around the darkly comic Anglo-Russian vocal sampling. They are dichotomous like a Pinter play. Incongruity persists on the dreamworld of Computer Break (Late Mix). High-pitched synths lasso themselves around the rhythm section. It is the closest Khotin-Foote gets to the temple of house music that he once resided. This celebration of its 4-4 and hook-heavy totem is particularly evident on and the eponymous and Flight Theme tracks of Hello World and the fantastically named Data Orb / Nessie’s Revenge under his Waterpark nom de plume.
And then there is Fountain, Growth. Piano keys push through waves of bright and reverberating synths. The breathy vocals of Tess Roby billow beautifully. She sings the chorus line “let go all you know / let go” with lyrical litheness. The piano is reprised on Life Mask. Birdsong and the ambience of a cityscape echo quietly in the background. A tin can- like sound disappears chaotically into the distance. The esoteric Techno Creep emerges. Its Subotnick-esque noises and shaman-like rhythm section which make the dream scenario more complex. It is as if the conscious self (guitar tremolo, zither-like cascades) and the subconscious self (modular synth improvisation) exist contemporaneously, and openly.
Release Spirit is at times unsubstantial, chimeric – oneiric even. It is no less illusory or meltingly melodic than its precursors. Arguably the strongest piece is its finale: Sound Gathering Trip. Indistinct sounds tremble in the opening seconds. Piano notes play measuredly. It is without percussion – this is not needed as no formal time signature has been applied. Khotin builds the piece but never progresses it beyond where it has to be. It remains ambivalent throughout. Low-fidelity moments like this defined his earliest works (listen to For Trial Listening, particularly tracks #08 and #15, which he recorded under the alias Happy Trendy). Refinement in sound has meant that such instances in his work are fleeting, yet Khotin-Foote’s musical narrative started in this imperfect space of thudding keyboards, rough-cut crackles and degraded audio signal. These chapters are the ones that leave the most indelible of impressions.
Our Daily Bread 569: Ali Murray & Cornelius Corvidae, Foil, Conrad Schnitzler & Ken Montgomery, Silver Moth…
April 7, 2023
GRAHAM DOMAIN’S REVIEWS SUITE
__SINGLES/EPS__
Ali Murray and Cornelius Corvidae ‘Split EP’
(Dead Forest Records)
As the name suggests this is an EP split between two artists playing two songs each.
Ali Murray hails from the beautiful windswept Isle of Lewis and vocally sounds like a cross between Elliott Smith and Andy Shauf. On some of his other releases he harnesses a shoegaze-like sonic template. Here he adopts a stripped-back sound of acoustic and electric guitar and organ. Standout track is the beautiful ‘Wish the Bones Away’ with its poetic lyrics and melancholic gothic strangeness. ‘Spirit of Unknowing’ meanwhile, uses acoustic guitar to great effect on an atmospheric ballad that combines the phrasing of John Grant with the sadness of Elliot Smith. Two songs of beauty and wonder!
Cornelius Corvidae hails from Minnesota, USA and inhabits two songs of cosmic Americana. ‘Silver Flower (Kali’s Invitation)’ employs acoustic picked guitar on a bleak ballad, all dark imagery and campfire ghost-story shadow. ‘Shiva in the Blood Orchard’ meanwhile, uses picked acoustic guitar set against Tudor-like keyboard melodies (reminiscent of the Moody Blues) on a dark folk ballad. Two artists, four great songs!
Foil ‘Portal’
(Jolt Music)
Foil (AKA singer and producer Helly Manson) releases her new single this month. Taken from the upcoming album On the Wing, the song begins like Steeleye Span with multi tracked folkish female vocals before a synth plays the same pattern over and over again accompanied by a cowbell rhythm! It lasts just 1 minute and 33 seconds and sounds like a demo for a song not finished and barely started! Still, there’s nothing else quite like it!
Juppe ‘Fade’
(Soliti)
Juppe hails from Helsinki in Finland (the happiest country in the world)! Of the singles theme he says ‘it’s very hard to get a place to rent here in Helsinki if you don’t have good credit! It’s very easy to fade away.’ With two fingers up to the Man – Juppe looks like Bob Mortimer and harnesses the sound of the Devils music Jamiroquai!
Bitter Defeat ‘Terrific Effort EP’
(Bandcamp)
This is the second EP from the New Zealand indie rock band following last years Minor Victory EP. Comprising 4 songs of guitar pop-rock that sit somewhere between the Lemon Heads and late-period Buzzcocks! Lead song ‘Sugar Blind’ is a catchy guitar driven pop song complete with Cure-like background vocal refrain! ‘Falling Down’, meanwhile has shades of the Charlatans with its driving organ sound! One to watch!
Nivis ‘Into the Void’ EP
(6415 Records)
The EP features 4 songs of pop-rock from the German indie-pop band. Lead track ‘Rain on a Funeral March’ is a catchy pop song that resonates more with each play. All four songs are well-produced, commercial pop-rock that remind me of people like Cyndi Lauper or Nena (of 99 Red Balloons fame). It’s the sort of music that was popular in the mid 1980’s! Shiny but not new!
Neon Kittens ‘Loving Your Neighbours Wife’ b/w ‘Marilyn Mansion (Where Horror Lives)
(Metal Postcard Records)
The new single from Neon Kittens, combines the white funk bass-lines of A Certain Ratio with Eno / Byrnes My Life in the Bush of Ghosts to produce K-Funk – the crunchy funk sound of biscuits out of their packet! With these hot cheesy bread rhythms, even Lego figures with botox can learn to smile again! Set to produce a water slide of elastic-legged banana dancing up and down the country!
B-side ‘Marilyn Mansion’ employs the sound of Early Gang of Four with the attack of Wire and a deadpan female Einar (Sugarcubes) on a twisted tale of non murder locations and funking in cars!
Draag ‘Mitsuwa’
A wonderful summery single from the LA Electro-Shoegaze band, taken from their forthcoming album Dark Fire Heresy. Acoustic guitars and subtle synths give way to chiming guitars and organ with multi-tracked harmonic female vocals! It reminds me very much of Lush in their prime! One to watch!
_____ALBUMS_____
Conrad Schnitzler & Ken Montgomery ‘CAS-CON 11 Konzert in der Erloserkirche, Ost-Berlin, 3.9.1986’
(Bureau B) 12th May 2023
This is a live concert recorded in East Germany on 3.9.1986 where the music of German electronic experimental musician Conrad Schnitzler was mixed live by American collaborator Ken Montgomery. This was at a time when the Berlin Wall still stood and the GDR required the issuing of a special state permit for a live concert. This concert was promoted locally by word of mouth and went ahead illegally (without permit), where it was recorded and issued by an East German underground label on cassette.
Now fully restored, the concert has been issued for the first time on CD, Vinyl and as a Digital Download! Consisting of 6 tracks of austere serious yet playful experimental electronic music, it leaves little impression on first listen. With repeat plays however, the charms of the music reveal themselves, not so much in melody but in atmosphere and approach. It encapsulates the icy chill and drama of Delia Derbyshire, Bowie, Eno, Tomita, Cluster and early Popol Vuh! An interesting suite of music – one that becomes an essential listen the more you hear it!
FFO: Delia Derbyshire, Cluster, Popol Vuh, Tangerine Dream, Bowie, Tomita.
Volatile Youth ‘Post Falls, Idaho’
(Rummage Sale Records – Bandcamp)
The album begins with the song ‘California’ sounding like a strung-out Lou Reed if produced by Jesus and Mary Chain! ‘Love Like A Thousand Guns’ is superb low-fi Psychedelia with the backward vocal effect, once favoured by Siouxsie, that you don’t hear anymore since the onset of Digital! ‘She’s Starting to See the Flame’ is a country-tinged song sounding like Nick Drake if he had fronted the Byrds after they turned country-rock!
Overall, this is a fine album that is perhaps a touch too low-fi for its lofty ambitions! The songs are commercial and remind me of various bands and artists – among them Lou Reed, the Only Ones, the Byrds in their Gram Parsons era, Dennis Wilson and the gothic feel of Mazzy Star.
If it had been made by someone with a higher profile, say Bright Eyes, and recorded on decent sound equipment, it would undoubtedly have gained a wide audience. Hopefully it will be heard by many and receive the recognition it deserves.
Fhae ‘Sombre Thorax’
(4000 Records)
This is a wonderful album of ethereal, ambient, dream-folk-pop that ebbs and flows like the tides and inhabits its own world of subtle beauty. Sometimes, mists of the sea seem to creep into the music and the edges of reality become blurred, the music shape shifting into another dimension!
Fhae (20 year old Australian Ellena Ramsay) produces music in the vein of Julianna Barwick or Grouper – some of it lovely with multi tracked harmonies (like Barwick) and some of it (such as ‘Drain’ and ‘Man’) obscure in its strangeness (like Grouper)! There are some really beautiful and compelling tracks on the album, such as ‘Earth’, ‘Emergency’, ‘Love You’, ‘Comb’ and ‘Stuck’. A fantastic debut album, I can’t wait to hear more!
Stanley J. Zappa & Simo Laihonen with Suvadeep Das ‘Dance of the Moving Goal Posts’
(Ramble Records)
US saxophonist Stanley J Zappa (nephew of Frank Zappa) and Finnish drummer and percussionist Simo Laihonen recorded this album of 7 pieces of free improvised jazz live in Helsinki in 2018. The final track features Suvadeep Das on darbuka adding an extra percussive element!
It’s a lively set with the Sax sparring with the percussion throughout. If you enjoy free improv jazz, you may well enjoy this lively concert – give it a listen!
Nico Paulo ‘Nico Paulo’
(Forward Music Group)
This is a wonderful summery album of Bacharach-like melodies by the Portuguese-Canadian singer. A truly remarkable debut of ten self-composed wonderful songs that sound like standards.
Her voice is a bewitching combination of Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell and Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood). Musically it covers a wide spectrum of Tropicalia, Folk, Americana, Jazz and Pop. Her voice conveys real emotion and depth that is bounced off the beautiful melodies and lyrics.
There are so many fantastic songs on here that it’s hard to single out the standout tracks, but they include ‘Time’, ‘Lock Me Inside’, ‘The Master’, ‘Learning My Ways’, ‘Now or Never’.
A future classic that will undoubtedly have a far-reaching influence on stars not yet born! Is it too early to award it – Debut Album of the Year?
FFO: Weyes Blood, Aldous Harding, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Beach House, Rumer.
Silver Moth ‘Black Bay’
(Bella Union) 21st April 2023
Silver Moth are a one-off ‘band-experiment’ made up of 7 members from various bands drawn together post-lockdown by a strong desire to make music again and see what happens! The band include Mogwai guitarist Stuart Braithwaite, Elisabeth Elektra, Evi Vine and Ben Roberts.
The first track ‘Henry’ is 7 minutes of atmospheric shoegaze guitar music with a girl singer whose cracked voice here sounds like Beth Gibbons at her emotional best!
‘The Eternal’ follows, not the Joy Division song, but a bleak winter hymnal resonating like sacred music for the End of Times!
‘Mother Tongue’ follows suite with its cinematic drama and pagan prayer-like plea for reconciliation and survival.
Final track ‘Sedna’ has the same sacred vibe – like Dead Can Dance played by Fields of The Nephilim.
Cinematic tracks full of atmosphere and grandeur! 45 minutes of Bliss! It may become the holy grail of lost albums in future years – if it slips under the radar!
FFO: Slowdive, Pale Saints, Howling Bells, Daughter, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Fields of the Nephilim.
A Little About The Writer:
Manchester-based musician and artist Graham Domain joined the team in 2022. The offspring of Scott Walker and David Slyvian, Graham has charmed us with his plaintive adroit music for years; releasing music for the iconic cult multinational platform Metal Postcard Records.
Monthly Playlist Revue Of March 2023: Snapped Ankles, Tinariwen, Murs, ILLAMAN, Salem Trials, Anemic Cinema…
March 31, 2023
The Monolith Cocktail’s Monthly Playlist Of Choice Music
Picked By Dominic Valvona, Matt Oliver, Brian ‘Bordello’, Gillian Stone, Graham Domain.
Three and a half hours of choice music from March, the Monolith Cocktail Revue features tunes from our reviews and columns, plus the tracks we didn’t get room to feature. This month’s selection is courtesy of Dominic Valvona, Matt Oliver, Brian ‘Bordello’ She, Graham Domain and Gillian Stone.
____TRACK LIST____
Snapped Ankles ‘Planet You’
Sparkz ‘Overlord’
Spectacular Diagnostics ‘Political Monsters’
Anemic Cinema ‘Oneirophrenia’
ASSASSUN ‘Unfold On My Chest’
Man/Woman/Chainsaw ‘Back/Burden’
Salem Trials ‘Calculating R’
Ruxpin & Stafraenn Hakon ‘Unmapped Landscapes’
DJ Black Low ‘Thando’
Tinariwen w/ Fats Kaplin ‘Tenere Den’
Dur-Dur Band International ‘Wan Ka Helaa’
Adrian Younge/Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Lonnie Liston Smith ‘A New Spring’
Juppe ‘Fade’
Ramson Badbonez ‘Stir Fried (Remix)’
The Waeve ‘Kill Me Again’
Tilo Weber ‘Nacre Nacre’
Areia ‘The Deaf Man Three’
Sultan Stevenson ‘Summer Was Our Holy Place’
Chairman Maf ‘Deep Water’
Dub Sonata/BlackLiq ‘The B-Side’
Ali Farka Toure (Ft. Oumou Sangare) ‘Bandolobourou’
Philip Selway ‘Strange Dance’
Benedict Benjamin ‘White Noise’
Schizo Fun Addict ‘Over The Hill And Far Away’
Nivis ‘Rain On A Funeral March’
Saba Alizadeh ‘Nafir’
Frederic D. Oberland ‘Quatre Epaves d’Acier’
Qrauer ‘Foq (ANGRiDAD RMX)’
Carmen Jaci ‘I See’
Healing Force Project ‘Adrift In The Stratosphere’
Murs ‘Spaghetti At The Ghetty’
Efeks Ft. Breezy Lee & Steady ‘Grateful’
Rico James ‘All Candles’
Varnish La Piscine ‘NUBIAN FARLOW’
ILLAMAN Ft. Pitch 92 ‘Sometimes Relax’
AJ Suede/ Televangel ‘Terrible’
ILLAMAN Ft. Pitch 92 ‘Absolutely Tidy’
Che Noir/ Big Ghost Ltd. ‘Quiet Movers’
Niclas Tamas ‘Cosmology Mammal’
Tomo-Nakaguchi ‘The Starry Night’
Jman/The Argonautz ‘Dying Breed’
Farmabeats/Baileys Brown ‘They Live We Sleep (Pricks From The Thorn)’
Joel Harrison & Anthony Pirog ‘Critical Conversation’
Lukas Traxel ‘The Call’
Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys ‘Heaving’
Smashing Red ‘Hot Sun’
Goodbye Karelle ‘Moonroad’
Halo Maud ‘Catch The Wave’
Night Noise Team ‘Little Shocks’
Ghosts On TV ‘Life In Plastic’
Salem Trials ‘Super Spreader’
$T33D$_uv-LUV ‘J.O.1.’
Our Daily Bread 565: A Journey Of Giraffes ‘Empress Nouveau’
March 23, 2023
SUBLIME AMBIENT MUSIC REVIEWED BY DOMINIC VALVONA
A Journey Of Giraffes ‘Empress Nouveau’
(Somewherecold Records) 31st March 2023
Six albums into his partnership with the North American home of ambient and electronic music, Somewherecold Records, the unassuming composer John Lane once more peaceably reveals another finely-crafted, tactile album of subtle vision and beauty. His most successful conversion since swapping the beachcomber Pet Sounds imbued musical language of Expo (hinted at later on) to pick up the mantle of ambient and neoclassical composition under the A Journey Of Giraffes moniker, John has traversed various themes, from the love letter Kona album to Susumu Yokota to the Caucasus atmospheres of Armenia.
With various sonic, musical leitmotifs, a mystically suggestive title and references to the atavistic, to Iberian memories and delicate decorative tracery, the veiled, perfumed Empress Nouveau glides and sails, emerges and, just as subtly, disappears across dreamy spells of wistfulness, promise and the intriguing; a voyage, but not necessarily a linear journey.
Imbued by a suffusion of influences, most notably Harold Budd and Susumu Yokota (once more) but also Kazumichi Komatsu, Sakamoto & Sylvain, Andrew Heath and Eno, Lane spins, weaves and spindles the essence of place and time; stirring up dulcimer-like tones of the Orient, a hand-ringing school (could also be a call to prayer, or assembly point prompt, perhaps the intermission signal at the opera or theatre) bell, or softly evoking a South American wilderness.
Classical tones comfortably sit with the synthesized and crystalized as lightly patterned motifs, bulb-like notes and pizzicato strings resonate, and melodious flakes fall. Amongst that soft, occasionally chiming and sparkling, musicality you can detect the odd passage of saxophone, a diaphanous music box, burbled and wobbly bubbles, tine-like plucks of what could be a mbira, Mosquito Coast pan-piped mysteries, the Baroque and a chirping, chattering, knee-rubbing chorus of insects. With a surprising evocation of John’s seashells gathering Brian Wilson inspired Expo incarnation from a near decade ago, ‘Little Flowers On A Stone’ has a real touch of The Wonderments and Van Dyke Parks about it, albeit stripped of those lush vocal harmonies.
On an even keel throughout, whether that’s giving a soundtrack to the memories of traveling to the quaint Alicante city/municipality of Elda for instance, or, referencing the female chemist and Mesopotamian court overseer Tapputi, whose name can be found etched on a 1200 B.C. cuneiform tablet, Empress Nouveau remains an ocean-liner serenely floating across a milk sea and vaporous waves. But then there are also a number of allusions to the artisan craft of pottery and ornamentation (‘Bamboo Majolica’ and ‘Baroque Filigree’) to be found in the melodic ether and peaceful motions of this gentle traverse. This could itself be a metaphor for John’s own applied craftsmanship in carefully and artfully composing such effective quality ambient and neoclassical stirrings.
This is yet another essential album from one of the best artists working in this field of subtle, sometimes breathtaking and sublime, exploration – although this is experimenting without sounding like you’re experimenting, if that makes sense. It’s a joy to experience.
The John Lanes Files – Links To Previous Albums Featured On The Monolith Cocktail
A Journey Of Giraffes ‘Spool’
AJOG ‘Kona’
AJOG ‘F²’
AJOG ‘Armenia’
Expo ‘She Sells Seashells’
Hi, my name is Dominic Valvona and I’m the Founder of the music/culture blog monolithcocktail.com For the last ten years I’ve featured and supported music, musicians and labels we love across genres from around the world that we think you’ll want to know about. No content on the site is paid for or sponsored and we only feature artists we have genuine respect for /love. If you enjoy our reviews (and we often write long, thoughtful ones), found a new artist you admire or if we have featured you or artists you represent and would like to buy us a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/monolithcocktail to say cheers for spreading the word, then that would be much appreciated.
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