Utility Fog

Sunday, 5th of December, 2010

As usual, LISTEN AGAIN via the link at the bottom, kidz! It's the newfangled way.
Last non-best-of show of 2010! Although some of this music certainly fits the "best-of" bill and will be heard again in a week or two's time...

Indeed, we started with a new 2010 release which is most definitely up there! Balmorhea actually had a great album out earlier this year, but are back again with a highly limited 7" which comes with a download with bonus remixes. Fellow Texan Botany adds a nice beat while keeping the lush feel of the marimba (I think) in the original; meanwhile the wonderfully upbeat piano-led flipside is remixed by Benoît Pioulard into a typical Pioulard lo-fi pop song.

2010 brought not only a whole lot of great new music, but as usual a whole lot of older discoveries. This is about as far back as those discoveries went — an extraordinary 1969 album by Brigitte Fontaine and Areski, along with jazz iconoclasts the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It's absoultely extraordinary.

Tonight we are also focusing again on the excellent Lost Tribe Sound Volume One compilation, and first cab off the rank is none other than Melbourne freak folkies Children of the Wave. A new album from this duo can't come soon enough.
Speaking of folk, Sydney artist Jacqui O'Reilly has been taking some of her old folk songs, written some years ago, and re-purposing them with big ambient electronic accompaniment. Click on the link and listen at her SoundCloud page.

Another focus for tonight is Icelandic/international label Bedroom Community's free download compilation Yule, available with any purchase from the Bedroom Community shop. Highly recommended, this mixtape features exclusive tracks from all the Bedroom Community artists, with some innovative remixes among them. First off, Nico Muhly's choral composition is remixed by English beatbox/electronic artist MaJiKer.

Back to 2010 discoveries, the wondrous Es runs Finnish label Fonal, and creates psychedlic sounds in many sonic media — live instruments, computer edits, crackling vinyl samples, scattered ethereal vocals and more...

Meanwhile, an equally exciting discovery (although I knew of them earlier) was the works of Norwegian duo alog, and the half known as phonophani. It's very much computer music, but very much acoustic and live instrument-based, with an interest in decontextualised vocal snippets and in general sounds used in unexpected ways. There's a lot to savour in their music.

Back to Bedroom Community's Yule mix, we have label boss (although I think they're something of a collective) Valgeir Sigurðsson, with a track from his first album being remixed by Amiina member Kippi Kanínus, with extra strings and lush harmonies filling out the original more-electronic composition.
And Adelaide's own Ben Frost has a track which must have been birthed around the time of his By The Throat album, with growling double basses along with the sub bass...

Speaking of strings, the amazing multi-tracked cello and many other instruments of William Ryan-Fritch, aka Vieo Abiungo, aka SkyRider (or is he just a member of the latter? Hard to know). A hugely impressive musician who one suspects is only getting better.
And also with the rapturous cello layering on the Lost Tribe Sound comp is Aaron Martin.

Sticking with that compilation, Gavouna has gorgeous piano and acoustic guitar in a somehow very French-sounding piece, despite being based in the UK. And taking things in a somewhat more electronic direction is Brael — hoping for an album in the works for these guys too!

Brael had a collaborative album with Lost Tribe boss(es?) Tokyo Bloodworm, on the Moteer label, which is run by a couple of ex members of my favourite band Hood. We jump now to some more Hood-related stuff. The Declining Winter is Richard Adams, who along with his brother Chris was central to the band from the start. First off, we hear his remix of Winter North Atlantic, of whom more in a minute. Then a track from a new 3" from The Declining Winter, beautifully packaged via the boutique Secret Furry Hole label. Apparently this track is based on a piece by Richard's brother Chris's Bracken project.

And next up is the Bracken remix from the Winter North Atlantic remix album. This artist put out an excellent folktronic album earlier in the year, and the remix album is a doozy. I'd already heard the Fieldhead remix courtesy of Paul "Fieldhead" Elam, but it bears many repeat playings.

It was worth, tonight, revisiting Ninja Tune's 20th anniversary compilations/boxset — there's so much great stuff that I could play four more tracks tonight that I hadn't aired already, and I'll certainly be playing some in the coming best-of shows. This Mr Scruff vs Kirst Almeida tune is a nice bit of dubstep-influence dancefloor minimalism.
Next up, two remixes from Slugabed, very funky and wobbly with the bass. Roots Manuva has an insane number of insanely good tracks spread over these comps, and this one goes straight for the hips. Meanwhile the Moog-acid of Jean Jacques Perrey & Cosmic Pocket wobbles along nicely under Slugabed's influence.

The wobble is there, too, in The Orb's remix of the Coldcut & Hexstatic classic "Timber", in which the original samples, from video, of chainsaws and the like aren't so audible but the original tune still shines through.
Also updated 2010-style is Coldcut's far more recent "True Skool", which suits Zomby's breakbeat cool to a tee.

Lastly with the Ninjas, another cut from the Grasscut album, with arcane British voices and a folk feel to the electronic songwriting. About half of this album is absolute genius, and that'll do nicely!

And finally for tonight, another tune in which Sydney's Feral Media is pitted against Brisbane's Lofly label. Here Brisvegan artist Subsea is remixed (is this a remix first for him?) by afxjim. It's an excellent compilation and it's free - grab it now!

Balmorhea - Candor [Western Vinyl]
Balmorhea - Candor (Botany remix) [Western Vinyl] {I'm guessing this is the right Botany!}
Balmorhea - Clamor [Western Vinyl]
Balmorhea - Clamor (Benoît Pioulard remix) [Western Vinyl]
Brigitte Fontaine et Areski avec the Art Ensemble of Chicago - Comme à la radio [Saravah]
Children of the Wave - Come Play Frolic [Lost Tribe Sound]
Jacqui O'Reilly - Have You Ever Wanted [demo] {listen on SoundCloud!}
Nico Muhly - Wonders (MaJiKer remix) [Bedroom Community] {from the free download compilation Yule, available with any purchase from the Bedroom Community shop right now!}
Es - Pehmeä iho [Fonal]
Es - Sateenkaarisuudelma II [Fonal]
Es - Sadepäivät [Fonal]
phonophani - cloudberry [Rune Grammofon]
alog - Catch that totem! [Melektronikk]
alog - son of king [Rune Grammofon]
phonophani - ilka [Rune Grammofon]
Valgeir Sigurðsson - Focal Point (Kippi Kanínus remix) [Bedroom Community] {from the free download compilation Yule, available with any purchase from the Bedroom Community shop right now!}
Ben Frost - The Gravity of Numbers [Bedroom Community] {from the, as above...}
William Ryan-Fritch - Cold Fingers Buttoning Sleeves [Lost Tribe Sound]
Aaron Martin - Sea Wasp [Lost Tribe Sound]
Gavouna - Tricle-Rem [Lost Tribe Sound]
Brael - Week of Wonders [Lost Tribe Sound]
Winter North Atlantic - Barrel Organ (The Declining Winter remix) [Boltfish]
The Declining Winter - Leave [Secret Furry Hole]
Winter North Atlantic - Kinay 816 (Bracken remix) [Boltfish]
Winter North Atlantic - The Maid (Fieldhead remix) [Boltfish]
Mr Scruff vs Kirst Almeida - Pickled Spider [Ninja Tune]
Roots Manuva - Witness (Slugabed Remix) [Ninja Tune]
Jean Jacques Perrey & Cosmic Pocket - Froots (Slugabed Remix) [In Vitro Records]
Coldcut & Hexstatic - Timber (Super Sargasso Orb Mix) [Ninja Tune]
Coldcut - True Skool (Zomby Remix) [Ninja Tune]
Grasscut - Passing [Ninja Tune]
Subsea - Luetteloa (afxjim remix) [Feral Media/Lofly] {free download from Feral Media Bandcamp!}

Listen again — ~ 166MB

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