Utility Fog

Sunday, 19th of May, 2013

On this #SBSEurovision finals night, come in from the Euro collapse, the insane costumes and unlistenable music, and join me for the usual. Post-dubstep/ambient techno, glitchy piano electronica, pysch/kraut-rock from Toronto with a Melbourne connection... JOIN ME.

Beginning with two highly recommended albums.
I first heard of Piano Interrupted through UFog fave Inch-time, the Adelaide producer who's now based in London, who released a remix from them at the start of the year. A duo of piano and laptop, they have been joined on stage by various musicians, and have now settled on a cellist and percussionist, who feature on some of this album. The always lovely sound of acoustic instruments sent through the glitchy digital shredder is enhanced by some first class musicianship, with stylistic influences from north Africa and the middle east as well as jazz, classical and electronica - and the cello arrangements bring some extra warmth as well. It's a beautiful album that sits nicely with the 10th anniversary now being celebrated for Four Tet's beloved album Rounds (See my retrospective here. I ought to get around to playing something from that too...)

Harkening back to '90s ambient techno are Dalhous, on the Blackest Ever Black, who have been responsible for some great releases from ex-industrial and noise artists lately, including some epic techno beats from Prurient. Dalhous released a couple of albums of strange psychedelic post-industrial sounds as Young Hunting, but their beats are not nearly as dark and twisted as you'd expect. It's deep and enveloping, recalling FSOL and The Orb as much as contemporary beats and drones.

Moscow-based ambient label Dronarivm put out a lovely drone album from Machinefabriek & Minus Pilots earlier in the year, and now we hear a couple of tracks from the ambient compilation Aquarius. First up is a bonus track, available only online (click the Aquarius link above), from Canada's Segue, and it's one of the highlights - windswept guitar and subtle beats. Also with subtle beats and Arctic textures is Norway's excellent Pjusk.

I raved about ensemble pearl last week on the show, so check out that playlist for the low-down on this amazing doom/drone supergroup. Tonight's track is a glorious mono demo with massively explosive reverbed drums and bass, and everything just layered into a great head-nodding 13-minute sludge. The album version is just as epic and awesome, but just a little bit less intense.

Back in 2008, Mirrored Silver Sea's album Continual Ascension was one of my top albums of the year (see the huge best-of post. Haven't done one of those for a while...) Mirrored Silver Sea was Melbourne native Tim Condon, who has now been based in Toronto for a few years and has formed kraut/psych/instrumental rock band Fresh Snow. Their debut I album is out any minute and is released on both cassette and vinyl, in different versions - the vinyl edition is mastered by the legendary James Plotkin of countless bands including Khanate (with Stephen O'Malley of ensemble pearl above, and it's a far more dynamic version, often so radically different it sounds like a different mix. Pretty excellent in either version anyway!

Nonsemble is a classical/postrock group from Brisbane led by composer Chris Perren, best known for his post/math-rock band Mr Maps. Strings and piano are joined by clattering percussion, crossing two different musical worlds. Lovely stuff.

Andrew Tuttle has discarded his Anonymeye identity, but he's keeping up the folktronic sound, with banjo and fingerpicking acoustic guitar along with synthesisers meeting intense digital processing. We heard two tracks from his first EP under his own name, which you can get for free right now from his Bandcamp.

And finally, you can be lulled to sleep by the waves and gentle drones of Tim Bass, from his album Pastures, out soon from Sydney's Flaming Pines, who presents a meticulously-created imaginary landscape from his home of Melbourne.

Piano Interrupted - Hédi [Denovali]
Piano Interrupted - Occasional Blues [Denovali]
Inch-time - The Sun Myth (Piano Interrupted mix) [Mystery Plays Records]
Piano Interrupted - Son of Foug [Denovali]
Dalhous - Dalhous [Blackest Ever Black]
Dalhous - Success is Her Sensuality [Blackest Ever Black]
Dalhous - He Was Human And Belonged With Humans [Blackest Ever Black]
Segue - Far Away [Dronarivm]
Pjusk - Skarlagen [Dronarivm]
ensemble pearl - island epiphany (rough demo) [Drag City/Daymare]
Fresh Snow - BMX Based Tactics (LP version mastered by James Plotkin) [Fresh Snow Bandcamp] {available soon}
Mirrored Silver Sea - Ghost Blossom [Sound & Fury]
Fresh Snow - Your Thirst For Magic Has Been Quenched By Death! (cassette version) [Fresh Snow Bandcamp] {available soon}
Nonsemble - Movement I - The Great Awakening [Nonsemble Bandcamp]
Andrew Tuttle - Brisbane [Andrew Tuttle Bandcamp]
Andrew Tuttle - Fallen Powerlines [Andrew Tuttle Bandcamp]
Tim Bass - Onward From Nowhere [Flaming Pines]

Listen again — ~ 104MB

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