Utility Fog

Sunday, 13th of May, 2012

Tonight featured an interview with the always lovely Cameron Webb aka Seaworthy, and the rest was almost exclusively filled up with a few artist specials... Crazy times.
Check out Seaworthy & Matt Rösner's Environmental Sounds blog.

LISTEN AGAIN to enjoy these great artists in-depth: direct link, podcast feed or, go on, on demand streaming!

I started with a couple of random minimal drum'n'bass tunes that turned up this week, and very nice too. Komonazmuk first came to my attention with some releases on the breakcore-meets-dubstep label Terminal Dusk. We'll hear something from that next week, along with some more dubsteppy tunes from his new album, but tonight I played a cut from the album which sits in that liminal land between full-throttle d'n'b and post-r'n'b bass music.
And from the Australian Enig'matik Records label, best known for glitch-hop and psychedelic techno sounds, Melbourne artist Child brought us a very nice piece of melodic, minimal d'n'b.

Finally from our intro segment, something absolutely gorgeous from Tarentel offshoot Howard Hello — Americana meets shoegaze on this track. There's some brilliant early folktronica on this mini-album/EP, and I'm ultra-keen to play some more on next week's packed show...

Then we went head-on into an interview with Cam from Seaworthy. Seaworthy has been a stalwart of Sydney's experimental, slow/minimal/drone scene for probably over a decade, Cameron often being joined by Sam Shinazzi (himself a well-known indie artist) and Greg Bird. For some time thought it's been essentially a solo act for Cam, usually with his signature looped guitar licks plus field recordings. But as we delve into their past we hear piano refrains, glitchy remixes, drones and even some rare singing. The new album, for the second year of Preservation's Circa series of limited releases, features Cam taking a new tack, mostly focusing on the breathy wheeze of the harmonium. It makes for some beautiful sounds, deceptively detailed.

After Seaworthy we dive right into another special, on the beautiful Dictaphone. Their sound is somehow very German to me, fitting right into the sound world of bands like To Rococo Rot, Tarwater, The Notwist and Tied and Tickled Trio, with the warm acoustic sounds of Roger Döring's clarinet and saxophone, plus the bass of Oliver Doering, entwining with Doering's samples and clicky beats. There's a cosmopolitan European jazz feel to their music which is particularly emphasised with the addition of Alexander Stolze's violin on the new album, while Mariechen Danz's vocal on standout track "Rattle" hints at the more trip-hoppy aspects of their sound.
Hugely recommended.

Next up, much-loved Sydney duo ollo have a new album out, centred around Alex Crowfoot's love of analogue synths and effects — aptly named Ape Delay (they do love their language games). I started, however, with the unassuming "trouble is" from their 2006 album The If If, which in its less than 2 minutes manages to be one of my favourite pieces of songwriting from the last decade or so. An evocative mix of synth, drum machine and vocals, with a touching, slightly surreal lyric.
The new album is more upbeat, and rather krautrocky with its emphasis on analogue synths and tape effects, and makes good use of Alex's ear for classic pop hooks. Oughta be a hit.
Meanwhile, from their C-Sides collection of mostly unreleased tracks from 1996-2006, we heard an incredible piece of cut-up multi-tracked vocals.

To finish up, we had yet another extended special, on the brilliant Patrick Watson. He first came to my attention with 2006's Close to Paradise (we probably got it here in 2007), and it did suit UFog's love for genre-bending. Watson's comfortable with the chamber pop of emotive vocals, piano and mini-classical arrangements, with folk and smokey jazz, but he's also happy to drop pulsing electronic effects, edited drums and other little bits of studio trickery into the mix.
His second album followed suit a few years later, with equally beguiling songwriting, and no less of the subtle experimentation. The new album might feel somewhat more straightforwardly indiepop, but once again this is only if you don't listen to the details and ignore the instrumental tracks. A fantastically talented, inspiring artist.

Komonazmuk - Time Line [Hench]
Child - Bad Timing [Enig'matik Records] {pay-what-you-like from Bandcamp}
Howard Hello - Hello [Temporary Residence]
...interview with Cam from Seaworthy...
Seaworthy - Bellows Whispered Breath [Preservation]
Seaworthy - Rattled Rushes [Preservation]
Seaworthy - Distant Hills Burn Bright Part 4 [Black Lodge Audio]
Seaworthy - catch the snowfall [demo]
Seaworthy - western song (remix 1) [demo]
Seaworthy - Broken Shores [Steady Cam]
Seaworthy - Installation 3 [12k]
Seaworthy - Scuttled Path and Stone [Preservation]
dictaphone - the conversation [sonic pieces]
dictaphone - m.= addiction [City Centre Offices]
dictaphone - tango doerell [City Centre Offices]
dictaphone - the last song [City Centre Offices]
dictaphone - the frame (1-94-1) [City Centre Offices]
dictaphone - maelbeek [sonic pieces]
dictaphone - rattle (feat. Mariechen Danz) [sonic pieces]
ollo - trouble is [Groovescooter]
ollo - transistor resistor [Metal Postcard]
ollo - idno [available from their Bandcamp]
ollo - phobegone days [Groovescooter]
ollo - running with your eyes shut [Metal Postcard]
Patrick Watson - The Things You Do [Secret City Records/Domino]
Patrick Watson - Lighthouse [Secret City Records/Domino]
Patrick Watson - The Storm [Secret City Records]
Patrick Watson - Daydreamer [Secret City Records]
Patrick Watson - Down at the beach [Secret City Records]
Patrick Watson - Where the wild things are [Secret City Records]
Patrick Watson - Step Out For A While [Secret City Records/Domino]

Listen again — ~ 160MB

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