Already unspooling

Complex, hard-hewed beauty from three staples of LMYE's core curriculum: Mark Templeton, Kyle Bobby Dunn & Adam Thomas's Preslav Literary School. Each has new gear out or imminent - Templeton's fine Sweat Lodge Guru tape (represented by its misty, affecting title track, Scotch Heart), the meditative intensity of Runge's Last Stand (KBD's contribution to Ghostly's pretty impeccable SMM: Context comp - stream a 30-minute sampler below) & PSL's richly murky This Good Lesson Keep (from Veer, forthcoming on Interdisco): all are eminently worth time, cash, care...

Mark Templeton - Scotch Heart

Kyle Bobby Dunn - Runge's Last Stand (from SMM: Context, Ghostly)

GhostlyCast #42: felte - SMM Context

Tracklisting:
1. Goldmund - "Motion"
2. Leyland Kirby - "Polaroid"
3. Svarte Greiner - "Halves"
4. Christina Vantzou - "11 Generations Of My Fathers"
5. Jacaszek - "Elegia"
6. The Fun Years - "Cornelia Amygdaloid"
7. Manual - "Three Parts"
8. Aidan Baker - "Substantiated"
9. Rafael Anton Irisarri - "Moments Descend On My Windowpane"
10. Kyle Bobby Dunn - "Runge's Last Stand"
11. Peter Broderick - "Pause"

Preslav Literary School - This Good Lesson Keep

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Practical dreamers

Arnolfini, you're spoiling us. Ahem. Sorry, but the shame of that woeful not-even pun won't stop LMYE relishing a rapid return to the Bristol waterside this week for Thursday's jaw-dropping line-up of Ben Frost & Tim Hecker (oh, & the improbably Paul Morley-approved Ekoplekz).

This not-to-be-missed "monolithic double bill featuring two true international masters of sculptured noise, deep rumbling and artful sonic contrast" is a compelling follow-up to our recent gig of the year - the only UK Room40 10th anniversary show outside the metropolis, & another laudable coup for Arnolfini.

Looking back, Rafael Anton Irisarri stood out as the Room40 night's most positive surprise. Lawrence English was magnificently intense (pump that harmonium...) & demanding of a prone audience he'd sent to the floor, while Andrea Belfi was inspiringly subtle in his agile gong & keyboard double-act. Grouper too was gripping as she floated skeins of what began as voice & guitar (but came out as whisps & shudders) over her soundtrack tapes. But, more unexpectedly, the darkly grand & resonant romance of RAI's bowed & looped live dronetronica has stayed with me.

It's tempting to draw out the links between Bristol & Seattle - a pair of soggy, slacking west coast ports - to explain Irisarri's exceptional showing, with Belfi at first providing welcome colour splashes that I'd have liked much more of (as I would of him generally & of the later LE/Grouper pairing). But the previous night's fairly similar show at Cafe Oto (stream below) gives the lie to that idea - in both cases a dronier, somewhat deprettified & foggy version of his recorded self, going beyond the fine North Bend & making me long for his next record...

rafael anton irisarri > LIVE AT OPENFRAME FESTIVAL (CAFE OTO. LONDON. UK. 2010)

Deception Falls

A Great Northern Sigh

Lit a dawn

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Mouldy signature

Soundcloud serendipity reunites me with the lovely loscil, one of LMYE's longest-standing allegiances, via an entrancing, faintly post-classical piece for the mysterious Air Texture label (not so mysterious that Scott & Rafael Anton Irissari aren't curating a compilation for them/him/her/it, but anyway...). Hear the rich groans & counterpointing arco - note to self: other way round? - of Hyphae, plus a raft of other recent loops & oscillations, below.

Discogs. kranky profile.

Previous coverage (also here).

loscil > hyphae (via airtexture)

loscil > Dub for Cascadia /Lake Orchard (from Endless Falls, kranky)

Stream Stratchcona Variations (Ghostly).

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Skimmed foam

In truth, & hardly for the first time, pretty well everything that needs to be said about Pale Sketcher's Plans That Fade was said by disquiet months ago. But impervious as these ears are to Napalm Death, Godflesh or Jesu (even the Jesu 'misfits' of the original Pale Sketches), the Demixed project on Ghostly - brilliantly described by Marc as "like someone stirred up a Jesu shake, and just skimmed the foam off it — or took an X-ray of Godflesh, and used it as a musical score" - quite appeals.

& the wispy, shivering Plans That Fade, originally on the Horizon Line/Ghostly by Night compilation, is an evident high point (marks deducted for an occasional cod-reggae clunk, though)...

Hard to dispute this wry, pointed little observation (from Ghostly): "Interestingly, as Broadrick has moved from more traditional signifiers of heaviness (aggression, guitars, volume) towards their opposites (melancholy, computers, texture) his music has only gotten deeper and more affecting. In that way, Pale Sketcher may be Broadrick’s heaviest work to date."

Note to self: must hear those remixes too...

Pale Sketcher > Plans That Fade [Faded Dub] (from Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed, Ghostly International)

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

53 cells

Middlebrow? Meh. Granted, Music for 18 Musicians & In C are relatively accessible pieces - but they also remain thrilling, ground-breaking masterpieces, with the scale, richness & beauty to invite & reward new interpretation.

These ears enjoyed the celebrated Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble's M18M well enough. But it's a pretty respectful version that neither surpasses the definitive ECM recording nor steps up to Coldcut's brilliant (yes, really) 21st century reinvention. Judge for yourself...



Whereas NME's new-ish In C Remixed & forthcoming live In C (Ghostly) with Dennis DeSantis are clearly deeper, more challenging undertakings. What's come this way so far suggests they are genuine heirs to the classic Reich Remixed (& not just because DJ Spooky is on both...).

These remixes are less rooted in club textures & tropes, for sure, & feature an infinitely less cool line-up (as though that mattered...). But peaks like the bass clarinetist Michael Lowenstern's unexpectedly taut, somewhat 2-steppy Bints Mix display the same ability to reframe a landmark in systems/minimal music in a contemporary texture - &, obviously enough, to add something to how we understand each & the connections between them as a result.

Ditto that beguiling wood block in Jack Dangers' Reichian toned Semi-Detached, albeit that the piece loses its way in a bit of bland swamp half-way through. Zoe Keating's Zinc is more obviously 'classical', though its strings cascade & saw quite prettily.

The live version too has a notable boldness & poise - pulling off an adroit interplay of chunky throb & filigree (especially in the second stream below).

Oh, & Terry (who it's hard to imagine ever not "smiling, beaming and sometimes amazed", admittedly): rates them: "...some ‘alternate universe’ In Cs that got me smiling, beaming and sometimes amazed. A new revelational viewpoint on a piece that has been turned every way but loose over the past 45 years."

Nifty Tokafi interview/review (though see second LMYE piece below for a different Reich take on RR...).

Previous coverage (Reich) & here (Coldcut/Reich).

Bints Mix (Michael Lowenstern remix) • GVSU NME

Semi-Detached (Jack Dangers remix) • GVSU NME

Zinc (Zoe Keating remix) • GVSU NME



In C - GVSU NME Live at LPR pt.1

In C - GVSU NME Live at LPR pt.2



Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Fleeing further

As promised, more of the irresistible Music for Our Future giveaway compilation - from Lusine's intricate pinging poptronica to Willits & Sakamoto's stately, shuddering unfurling via staging points as diverse as King Midas Sound's sonorous future-dub, White Rainbow's accreting analogue haze & Untold's clicky warps...

Further coverage (by MfOF contributor Peter Kirn, as it happens). Photo by Lusine (Jeff McIlwain).

Lusine > Gravity (from A Certain Distance, Ghostly)

Hudson Mohawke > Fuse (from Butter, Warp)

White Rainbow > Raw Shanks a Million

King Midas Sound > Outta Space (Slow Version) (original on Waiting For You, Hyperdub)

Low Limit > Turf Day

Willits & Sakamoto > Toward Water [re-up] (from Ocean Fire, 12k)

Untold > Luna

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Curators/custodians/compilers

We noted the exceptional Type as LMYE's label of the year recently - but need to acknowledge more outstanding sound curators/custodians/compilers that were also key in helping shape our listening year.

At the risk of sending the pomposity/self-importance dial off the gauge, they start with four more highlighted labels that had a particularly intense impact here. An additional 15 who all also made a consistent difference bring us up to a top 20 - though this is a wholly arbitrary number, of course, & many other labels are also bringing out great music across a host of genres & styles; we try to acknowledge some below as well.

Implicit in all of this is the well-rehearsed idea that despite all of technology's lowering of barriers to entry labels remain important - perhaps more than ever. When we're flooded with new music their role as visible exercisers of taste, as rallying points, as cultural lenses, seems to really matter. Certainly, it still does to LMYE...

kranky > LMYE's larger label of the year: like Thrill Jockey (see below) only more so: meaning incredible vigour & new avenues even after all these years - especially this, this, this, this, this & this (& still thinking about this...) [previously/more/more] >> Tim Hecker > Visiting An Imaginary Country [LMYE hack] (from An Imaginary Country)


Low Point > LMYE's new discovery label of the year: consistently excellent & now making smart Type-style use of SoundCloud streaming - especially this, this, this, this & this [previously] >> Gareth Hardwick - Versions of Aversions [LMYE hack] (from Aversions)



12k/Line > LMYE's 'staggering consistency' label of the year: an unflagging succession of exceptional releases, whether from its rich Australian connection (see Room40 below), label head Taylor Deupree himself or other sources - especially this, this, this, this, this, this, this & this [previously/more/more] >> TU M' - Monochrome # 03 (from Monochromes, Vol. 1) [re-up]



Anticipate > LMYE's 'if only they would release more' label of the year: regrettably few releases but always a source of, er, anticipation & excitement - especially this, this & this >> Klimek - Movies is Magic minimix (from Movies is Magic; NB: higher-res version available from Anticipate)



Ad Noiseam

Audiobulb

Bine

Fang Bomb

FatCat

Ghostly International/Spectral Sound

Highpoint Lowlife

infrasonics

Miasmah

Modern Love

Raster-Noton

sustain-release

Thrill Jockey

Uncharted Audio

~scape

Also: Amazing Sounds, Bedroom Community, BPitch Control, Constellation, Domino, Erased Tapes, Hessle Audio, Hotflush, Home Normal, Honest Jon's, Hyperdub, Kesh, Kompakt, Mobeer/Moteer, Moving Furniture, Mule Musiq, Ostgut Ton, Overlap, Perlon, Planet Mu, Punch Drunk, Rekids, Room40, Root Strata, Rune Grammafon, Samadhisound, Spekk, Staubgold, Tectonic, Temporary Residence, Touch, Warp, Werk...

NB: further links & references to follow as & when...

>> The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Embers (from Here Be Dragons, Ad Noiseam) >> Tujiko Noriko/Lawrence English/John Chantler - I Can Hear The Heart (Live at Cafe Oto) >> Pausal / Alpine. - Song From A Cloth Pocket / fr:om (from Pausal (EP) / Fr:om Harmed Weather To Stark, Micro, Climates., both Highpoint Lowlife) [re-ups]

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

To the waterfront

A perfect, gleaming poptronica gem, made in a mere afternoon: Pezzner & LMYE regular Lusine throw together a handful of Seattle found sounds with breathy & regal vocals & a little Reichian plink to create the moving (emotionally & kinetically) Station to Station for XLR8R.

Pezzner & Lusine > Station to Station (unreleased)

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Forthcoming murk

As tweeted at twitter.com/earslend. Feedback/suggestions welcome...

Forthcoming on LMYE - Loscil/Chris McNamara/Cacao &/or Loscil/Sunken Foal/Hulk/J. Behan; Max Richter/Leyland Kirby (Caretaker); Anticipate special (Klimek/Mark Templeton/Honig)...

...Vulva String Quartett; Excepter/iTAL tEK; kranky special (Nudge/Greg Davis/To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie/more Ethernet); LRAD...

...; Astral Social Club (& other half of split); Jodi Cave/Kirschner/Deupree; TVO; & something murky in my notes ('CT'?)...

Earthling release

LMYE implores you - sign up to Christopher Willits' Facebook fan page & help get his Live on Earth - Vol. 2 released from captivity soon (he projects November, by the way).

If the new set's anywhere near as fine as the exquisitely subtle & shimmering Vol. 1 (recorded in Bangkok, Berlin, Chicago, Foshan, Kyoto, Philadelpia & Tokyo between 2006 and 2009) you & 2,221 others will be very well rewarded. Hear Vol. 1's rumbling, juddering Berlin piece below.

Less saturnine than the great Aidan Baker, though equally promiscuous in his serial collaborations (including Ryuichi Sakamoto &, especially, Taylor Deupree), Willits is endlessly engaging & beautifully inventive. See previous coverage of his lovely collisions & extensive solo stuff here.

Christopher Willits > Improvisation (live) - Berlin, Germany - June 19, 2009 (from Live on Earth - Vol. 1, self-released; photo by Jan Kruml)

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Expanded reification

Should have known better: yesterday's post dredged up a batch of neglected tastiness from LMYE over the past year, but still failed in its goal of bringing exposure to one of the previously untagged tracks.

Bugge Wesseltoft's hefty live collaboration with Sidsel Endresen & Nils Petter Molvaer on the staggeringly lovely River had the wrong sampling frequency last time out (gnashes teeth, wails). Still, it's now been crimped back accordingly - & is definitely worth your time, however galling the carnival of re-ups from here...

Bonus tracks (all from artists featured yesterday): Bugge Wesseltoft > Somewhere in Between (from New Conception of Jazz, Jazzland)

Bugge et al (Aissa Tåby/Audun Erlien/Thomas Strønen/Elouar Michy) - Never Met Before (Live at Belleville Oslo)

Audion > I Am the Car (from I Am the Car, Spectral Sound)

Keith Fullerton Whitman > Multiples Extracts [LMYE hack] (from Multiples, Kranky)

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.