What we did on our holidays

oystered 10: Sunlight bathed the golden glow (aug '06)

a1. the rice twins for penny and alexis (total 7/kompakt)
a2. wighnomy bros. wombat (total 7/kompakt)
a3. svalastog reconnecting joints (woodwork/rune grammofon)
a4. marsen jules la digitale pourpre (les fleurs/city centre offices)
b1. the modernist closer musik - one two three (no gravity) / mikkel metal - microho (popular songs/kompakt)
b2. bergheim 34 ding dong (farben remix) (diamenten und raketen/klang elektronik)
b3. humcrush cyborg ii (hornswoggle/rune grammofon)
b4. thomas fehlmann saft (total 7/kompakt)
c1. alva noto + ryuichi sakamoto ax mr. l. (revep/raster-noton)
c2. coh path.#1 (patherns ep/raster-post)
c3. susanna and the magical orchestra it’s a long way to the top (magical mountain/rune grammofon)
c4. ryan teague rounds (coins & crosses/type)
d1. 2 dollar egg graphit (diamenten und raketen/klang elektronik)
d2. hieroglyphic being d.o.s. (diamenten und raketen/klang elektronik)
d3. north valley subconscious orchestra napali passage (the right kind of nothing/ghostly international)
d4. scsi-9 when she said goodbye (total 7/kompakt)
d5. robert babicz sonntag (total 7/kompakt)

Another fine addition to the oystered 'Playing Catch Up' series of compilations. Rather than describe each track in detail, I think a brief overview might work better. This works as a nice compilation of compilations, as over half of the tracks come from the two seminal German techno labels, Klang Elektronik and Kompakt. A further five cuts are culled from merely two more labels that are a bit more experimental in nature, Norway's Rune Grammofon and Berlin's Raster-Noton. The remaining few odds and ends even have a cohesive feel and are quite possibly the standout cuts: Marsen Jules' track for City Centre Offices and Ryan Teague's "Rounds" for Type both have a very cinematic, neo-classical feel to them and are utterly epic in scope and completely gorgeous. The North Valley Subconscious Orchestra is a collaboration between two continually evolving musicians as well: old-school shoegaze experimentalist Brad Laner of Medicine, Electric Company fame, and new school shoegazer Christopher Willits, mostly known for his releases on the ever reliable 12k imprint, but also for his full length on Ghostly International. Not bad for the "dog days."