Utility Fog

Sunday, 22nd of May, 2011

Good evening! I came in an hour early tonight to present Sunday Night at the Movies, which was a breeze due to the dilligent production from Scarlett Di Maio. Lots of great sounds tonight on the 'Fog, though!
LISTEN AGAIN via the link at the bottom — or see the right-hand column to subscribe to the podcast...

Starting up with Evelyn Morris, who's still putting up awesome little experimental songs on the Pikelet Bandcamp quite regularly.

Most extraordinary sounds this week come from The Magic I.D.’s new album I'm So Awake / Sleepless I Feel. German experimental music gods Margareth Kammerer and Christof Kurzmann are joined by two beautiful clarinettists, Michael Thieke and Kai Fagaschinski. It's a very unusual sound, with strummed guitars, softly sung vocals (German-accented in English) and laptop edits and processing along with the pure clarinet tones.
We heard also a couple of songs from Margareth Kammerer, which was released on Kurzmann's Charhizma label, one of which was remixed by the redoutable b.fleischmann — and from Fleischmann's 2003 album Welcome Tourist, we heard the tail-end of the beautiful 45-minute track "Take your time", which fills the second disc, and which features Christof Kurzmann on vocals, in amongst the glitchy piano and radio noise...

Kris Keogh’s latest release, under his own name for the first time rather than Blastcorp or as part of Red Plum & Snow, sees him creating enthralling waves of noise from processed harp. Gotta be worth a free download, hey!

Canberran post-jazz ensemble Pollen Trio have a new EP out, after losing their original bass player, and it's abstract and beautiful. Get it direct from the band, and I also strongly recomment their previous output from hellosQuare, including this remix EP.

Although I featured these next two remix albums a little while ago on the show, the Tokyo Bloodworm is only just available in physical format, and the Vieo Abiungo is available for download from the label Tokyo Bloodworm run, Lost Tribe Sound. They're both absolutely unmissable.
The Australian connection on both discs is ably filled by Part Timer, both under that name and in his Scissor & Cellotape guise. That he's ultra-prolific has never hampered his quality.
We also hear Vieo Abiungo himself remixing Tokyo Bloodworm, and the original of "Mergers and Occupations", an incredible construction of acoustic sounds, peaking with clattering drums. VA is William Ryan Fritch, a hugely talented multi-instrumentalist with a few solo releases under his belt, who is also part of the SkyRider band (see below).

From the Vieo Abiungo remix album we also have another Melbourne act, Children of the Wave, contributing a mysterious journey into further global territories than the original even explored. And then one half of Tokyo Bloodworm, Sleepcrime, gives us an incredible 21-minute remix journey into sound — starting with with rhythmic violin, then double bass, gradually more processing, beats and layering. It's rather wonderful.

The SkyRider Band, fronted by Bud Berning and featuring William Ryan Fritch, has been working with alt.hop artist Sole for some years now. You may have heard the excellent new single and the even more excellent Alias reimx; tonight I'm playing SkyRider’s own remix, which is essentially an instrumental.

Icelandic composer and producer Ólafur Arnalds takes us into the latest Japan fundraiser comp, this one from Unseen Music. I don't want us to get Japan relief fatigue, because let's face it, it's a worthy cause (although the equally devastating disasters like the flooding in southern Thailand (to name one example) aren't getting nearly as much attention) — but that said, it's impossible to feel fatigue when time after time they're so damn good! For Nihon is the most ambient one yet. Arnalds pulls out the sweetly-discordant strings, minimal beats and piano, and Alva Noto contributes his usual impeccable minimalism.

Then we're back to the amazing 31 songs for japan compilation that flau released last week - compulsory for all UFog listeners, head to the Bandcamp now! Sydney's own wonderful pimmon contributes a mysterious 10-minute piece of white noise, drones and buried, half-identifiable sounds. And Gurun Gurun dispense with vocals, using field recordings, acoustic instruments and sound effects for a lovely warm sound.

Back to For Nihon, a gorgeous subdued shoegazey tune from Hollie Kenniff, who sings in Mint Julep with her husband Keith, the man behind the Unseen label, and better known as Helios and Goldmund.
And how lovely to have a new tune from Jon Hopkins — as heavily processed as he's ever gotten.

Finally from flau, how awesome to have a new tune from Bracken. It's over 9 minutes of slightly dubby indietronic goodness. By the time you get to the last third of the track and the vocals enter, you'll realise just why this song is so. damn. amazing.

In some ways it's totally weird that both Lia Tsamoglou and Kell Derrig-Hall of Moonmilk are now making countrified retro pop, but they're excellent musicians, and why not? Lia's project Melodie Nelson has an album out soon, and there's a Collarbones remix, which makes it irresistible to me.

Very fitting follow-up is a beautiful piece of layered vocals from Bon Chat, Bon Rat’s Reece Cooper and his sister, covering a David Sylvian track. Hopefully Reece will send me more of this very promising partnership soon.
So it's only fair we end with a track from Bon Chat, Bon Rat themselves. Here they enlist the help of exciting young Melbourne producer Hugo Frederick, who tones down his glitchy r'n'b proclivities and creates something windswept and almost shoegazey.

Pikelet - Out Real Out [Pikelet Bandcamp]
The Magic I.D. - Children's Tale [Staubgold]
Margareth Kammerer - Somewhere I Have Never Travelled [Charhizma]
The Magic I.D. - Mambo [Staubgold]
Margareth Kammerer - Facing It (remixed by Bernhard Fleischmann) [Charhizma]
b.fleischmann - Take your time (excerpt, feat. Christof Kurzmann) [Morr Music]
The Magic I.D. - Liebeslied [Staubgold]
Kris Keogh - I held on so tight as our whole world disintegrated [New Weird Australia]
Pollen Trio - peaks [self-released]
Tokyo Bloodworm - Canaanite Coast (Part Timer remix) [Moteer]
Tokyo Bloodworm - Mergers and Occupations [Moteer]
Tokyo Bloodworm - The Garden Shined Our Eyes Away (Vieo Abiungo remix) [Moteer]
Vieo Abiungo - Rust & Bile (Children of the Wave remix) [Lost Tribe Sound]
Vieo Abiungo - Nervous Laughter (Sleepcrime remix) [Lost Tribe Sound]
Sole & The SkyRider Band - Hello Cruel World (SkyRider Snowglobe Remix) [Circle Into Square]
Ólafur Arnalds - Endalaus II [Unseen Music]
Alva Noto - Is Otto Rössler Right? [Unseen Music]
pimmon - Heceta Final [flau]
Gurun Gurun - Otomatone [flau]
Hollie Kenniff - This Time Tomorrow [Unseen Music]
Jon Hopkins - Abandon Window [Unseen Music]
Bracken - The Fifty [flau]
Melodie Nelson - My Johnny (Collarbones remix) [available from Bandcamp]
The Deadly Night Shades - Dobro 1 [demo]
Bon Chat, Bon Rat - Blackbird (Hugo Frederick remix) [available from Bandcamp]

Listen again — ~ 217MB

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