oystered 28

Quaristices by B. Neptune on Mixcloud

Inspired by the early release of the massive 4LP Exai, initially I thought Autechre were just trying to compete with Ricardo Villalobos for most audaciously long 'new full-length.' I decided it was time to pick up with Ae where I left off - back at 2008's confusing, daunting Quaristice and all its addendums: (Versions) and the four Quadrange EPs. So, this set takes you from Quaristice's beginning, "Altibzz" to its end, "Outh9x" and tacks on the japanese bonus track, "nu-Nr6d" as well as an extract from the hour-long fourth part of the Quadrange EPs, "Perlence Subrange 6-36," roughly 20 minutes from what I considered to be the most interesting stretch -- between the 19th and 38th minute. I've selected my favorite versions of songs in between, taking much more liberty particularly with the (Versions) and Quadrange, um, versions of "The Plc," in which I proceed to mix Quadrange's "The Plc Ccc" smack in the middle of either side of (Versions') "The PlclCpC." I manage something similar with "Perlence," using the intro to the original Quaristice track, subsequently mixing in "Perlence Range 3" from (Versions), followed by "Perlence Subrange 3" and "Perlence losid 2," both from Quadrange, resulting in another nearly 20 minute linear transformation of the original. It's funny, because, at the time, Quaristice seemed like a marked move away from their long, brain-scrambling programming, with most songs clocking in under the four-minute mark, yet they still chose to release (Versions) and the Quadrange EPs, giving the original tracks time to develop, and essentially ensuring this mix a classic sounding Ae release, albeit over two-and-a-half hours. Good luck!

oystered 27

Low Light Dreams by Oystered on Mixcloud

Melt against yourself

  oystered 26 (may '07)

Total running time 4:22:58.
1. blues control migration (blues control CD/holy mountain) (7:23)
2. stella dreams (thomas/geiger mix) (please please please CD/kompakt) (8:03)
3. the sea and cake left on (everybody CD/thrill jockey) (4:56)
4. andrey kiritchenko untitled (edit) (mort aux vaches CD/staalplaat) (9:20)
5. jonquil sudden sun (lions CD/try harder) (4:02)
6. dj koze cicely (all the time 12"/philpot) (7:57)
7. minilogue urubamba (inca 12"/wir) (9:34)
8. andreas tilliander bonnarock (bonnarock 12"/repeatle) (6:09)
9. pjusk dempet (sart CD/12k) (3:19)
10. pommassl tandem distiller (wire tapper edit) (spare parts CD/raster-noton) (3:59)
11. wighnomy brothers my gloomy head (guppipeitsche 12"/freude am tanzen) (7:12)
12. gui boratto hera (the field mix) (chromophobia remixe part 1 12"/kompakt) (6:13)
13. grouper cover the windows and the walls (cover the windows and the walls LP/root strata) (5:45)
14. stephan bodzin vendett (liebe ist... CD/herzblut) (6:37)
15. vladislav delay he lived deeply (whistleblower CD/huume) (12:54)
16. thomas fehlmann dusted with powder (honigpumpe CD/kompakt) (5:42)
17. von sudenfed dear dead friends (tromatic reflexxions CD/domino) (4:44)
18. jack rose & glenn jones linden avenue stomp (dr. ragtime and his pals LP/tequila sunrise) (3:28)
19. eliane radigue realization/meditation (edit) (jetsun mila 2CD/lovely) (10:36)
20. alexander jodorowsky, ronald frangipane & don cherry tarot will teach you/burn your money (the holy mountain LP/abko) (8:45)
21. sleeparchive papercup (papercup 12"/sleeparchive) (8:56)
22. descension yellow swans descent B (descension yellow swans LP/three lobed recordings) (17:07)
23. boris with michio kurihara fuzzy reactor (rainbow CD/drag city) (3:44)
24. jakob olausson queen bee (moonlight farm LP/de stijl) (3:44)
25. kammerflimmer kollektief live at the cactus tree motel (jinx CD/staubgold) (4:16)
26. fennesz sakamoto abyss (cendre CD/touch) (5:39)
27. andrew pekler floating tone (edit) (cue CD/kranky) (11:43)
28. turner my aeroplane mania (lawrence rmx) (lowlights from the past and future CD/mule electronic) (6:33)
29. strategy windswept (interlude) (future rock CD/kranky) (2:15)
30. alog the learning curve (amateur CD/rune grammofon) (5:47)
31. efdemin bergwein (efdemin CD/dial) (7:47)
32. machinefabriek lief (weleer 2CD/lampse audiovisual) (20:07)
33. the north sea we conquered the golden age (exquisite idols CD/type) (11:13)
34. lichens vevor of agassou (omns CD/kranky) (4:57)
35. crescent before (little waves CD/fat cat) (5:28)
36. jurgen paape nord-west (nord nord-west 12"/kompakt) (7:18)
After months of laboring whether I should even continue posting, I finally made it through all the stuff I bought in May of 2007. Sometimes it seems kinda silly, but I love sharing music, and making compilations for people.
It's hard because I'm continually discovering and listening to new music as well as trying to listen to music that's nearly three years old, but still new to these ears. And what's three years really? The music itself sounds fresh as ever, it's just a mental hurdle of sorts.
Some of these artists with songs here have just recently released follow-ups to releases from this post (Jack Rose (RIP), Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Pjusk, Yellow Swans, Thomas Fehlmann, Andrew Pekler), some have long since released newer records (Fennesz, Vladislav Delay, Grouper, Blues Control), and surely, some of these releases are probably about to be reissued and/or remastered and repackaged sometime soon.
Whereas previous posts had more of a vinyl format track running order, I find this set ebbs and flows quite naturally in its entirety. And after not listening to some of these tracks since they first came out, a few like DJ Koze's "Cicely" and Andreas Tilliander's "Bonnarock" (both vinyl only cuts) sound particularly great. Others in heavy rotation since acquisition have been Turner's "My Aeroplane Mania (Lawrence rmx)," Von Sudenfed's (Mouse on Mars with Mark E. Smith) "Dear Dead Friends," Vladislav Delay's (the Miles Davis of electronic music btw - have I said that here before?) "He Lived Deeply," (see, it's even got a Davis-y title), Crescent's "Before," Thomas Fehlmann's "Dusted With Powder," Grouper's "Cover the Windows and the Walls" and Blues Control's "Migration."
It seemed only appropriate to end the set on an upbeat note, Jurgen Paape's "Nord-West," since I too, have migrated to Michigan's beautiful northwest coast. On to June 2007... Soon.

Virtual World

oystered 25: Arnold - Patio

Total running time 1:19:49
1. Fleas Don’t Fly (3:12) (from Fleas Don’t Fly CDs, Creation CRESCD 287)
2. Climb (3:56) (from Bahama CD, Poptones MC5 021)
3. Sun (2:22) (from The Barn Tapes CD, Creation CRECD 218)
4. You’re A Star (3:59) (from s/t Arnold CDEP, Lucky Pierre 01)
5. Medication Time (1:33) (from The Barn Tapes CD, Creation CRECD 218)
6. Catherine Day (2:52) (from Hillside CD, Creation CRECD 231)
7. Mickey’s Mother (2:22) (from Hillside CD, Creation CRECD 231)
8. Face (5:19) (version taken from Hillside CD, Creation CRECD 231)
9. Holly Lodge (2:29) (from Twist CDs, CRESCD 257)
10. Windsor Park (4:19) (version taken from Hillside CD, Creation CRECD 231)
11. untitled (4:08) (from The Barn Tapes CD, Creation CRECD 218)
12. Wild Colonial Girl (2:19) (from s/t Arnold CDEP, Lucky Pierre 01)
13. Hangman’s Waltz (3:09) (from Bahama CD, Poptones MC5 021)
14. Goodbye Grey (3:15) (from Hillside CD, Creation, CRECD 231)
15. Fishsounds (4:56) (from Fishsounds CDs, CRESCD 293)
16. Other Son (2:45) (from Bahama CD, Poptones MC5 021)
17. Oh My (4:08) (from Bahama CD, Poptones MC5 021)
18. Two Chairs (4:37) (version taken from Fishsounds CDs, CRESCD 293)
19. Hillside (2:37) (from Twist CDs, CRESCD 257)
20. Pavey Ark (15:38) (from Bahama CD, Poptones MC5 021)
Another stop-gap post until I finally get around to the massive undertaking that is turning out to be the “May 2007” mix.
Existing between 1998 and 2002, Arnold unfortunately suffered from a dubious band name and lousy timing. Signed to Creation during their heady Oasis years, Arnold’s lush compositions and complex arrangements we’re more in line with early 90’s UK shoegazers like Teenage Fanclub and Verve and US slowcore debutantes such as Galaxie 500 and Red House Painters. The band’s sophisticated melancholic sound mined the vaults of vintage soft-pop or what was brewing in SoCal circa the early ‘70s - the comedown after the turbulent, psychedelic ‘60s with artists like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and The Beach Boys’ output at this time as well, along with Big Star or even Pink Floyd at their least proggy. This compilation features a few tracks from each one of their releases, except for a few single releases. I could have grabbed a half dozen more but they didn’t fit the mood (yes, they have a few “rockers”) or the length constraints of the original 80 minute CD I created a few years back. When I think about it, really one of my favorite bands. And that probably has something to do with the fact they never got the attention they deserved.
Some history from the band’s own MySpace page:
Arnold formed in 1996. Phil Morris, Phil Payne and Mark Saxby had all been in a band called Patio with one Rob Ward. This group made a fearful noise when playing live, akin to a large building collapsing according to Rob Ariss who had the good fortune to be an audience member back then. The set list included a smattering of future Arnold songs---Calling Ira Jones, Twist, On the Bus, albeit fairly unrecognizable even to the band members themselves.There was one gig however which was quite splendid, playing at a party to celebrate Yugoslavian New Year[which is sometime in the second week of January for some reason]. Recently a video of this gig has come to light and we'll attempt to put some clips up sometime soon.
After Rob Ward died, leaving his many friends distraught, Sax and the two Phils carried on as Arnold, naming themselves after Payney's dog. The music took on a melancholy twist. They played their debut at Hope Festival in sub-zero temperatures---again a pretty awful racket with a temporary drummer who was under the impression he was drumming with Megadeath. But the songwriting was getting really good and they gave some home demos to Des Penny who took them to Alan McGee at Creation. He and Dick Green came down to see the band rehearse, and left unimpressed but giving the band £1000 demo budget largely on the basis of their relationship with Des. The band spent the money renting a barn in the Kent countryside for two glorious summer weeks and recorded a bunch of songs on their 8 track. They knew the songs were good---Windsor Park, Face, Float My Boat, Two Chairs, Sun, Dog on the Stairs. Eventually Alan McGee knew this too and signed them to a nice fat record deal.

Meth of a Rockette's Kick

oystered 24: The Nectarine No.9 – Soldiers of Love

Total running time 1:28:31.
1. The Port of Mars
2. Constellations of a Vanity
3. Firecrackers
4. I Love Total Destruction
5. 22 Blue
6. Peanut Brain
7. Susan Identifier
8. Fat Mafia
9. My Trapped Lightning
10. Leonards Foam Kremolacone
11. Walter Tevis
12. I Am the Sky
13. Don’t Worry Babe, You’re Not the Only One Awake
14. It’s Raining for Some Cloudy Reasons
15. Hanging Around (Oct.1903)
16. Unloaded for You
17. Fibrecane no. 4
18. I Am Stop Taking Pot Managed 35 to Take On the Cake Decoration Living Instead Sign Here……
19. These Days
20. Lazy Crystal
21. Frownland

I really wanted to get this one out a few months ago. Wanted this to be blarin’ from every boombox on burnout beach across the land. Any fan of classic Scottish pop bands like Orange Juice, Pastels and Teenage Fanclub or even U.S. underground luminaries as far ranging as Richard Hell, Television, Captain Beefheart and the Velvet Underground to more contemporary, ecstatic pop acts like Pixies, Pavement, Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, etc. should check this without further delay. Easily one of my favorite bands ever. I think if I were to ever get involved making music with people again, I would want it to be a cover band of strictly Nectarine No.9 songs. First, no one would even know you were playing covers, and second, everyone would think it’s the best shit ever. Now Davey Henderson fronts a new band called the Sexual Objects. Check out a few of their tunes here: http://www.myspace.com/thesexualobjectsmusic. Produced by the Boards of Canada?!? How’d that happen? The dude’s a genius.
Some history on Davey Henderson and The Nectarine No.9 via Epitonic and NME:

Formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1993, the Nectarine No.9 are actually veterans of the surreal pop business. Revolving around guitarist and vocalist Davey Henderson, who was an ex-member of both the Fire Engines and Win. Alan Horne, founder of Postcard Records, took great interest in both bands and Henderson's newest venture was one of his first signings on reactivating the label. Joined by Simon Smeeton (guitar/keyboards), Ian Holford (drums) and John Thompson(bass), the band's debut album reinstated Henderson's love of abrasive pop and quirky rhythms, inhabiting a musical world that was part-T. Rex and part-Fall. However, it lacked the focus of Henderson's previous work and critical reaction was muted. Guitar Thieves, which collected various BBC Radio 1 sessions, included versions of Captain Beefheart's "Frownland" and the Velvet Underground's "Inside Of Your Heart", as well as an original song, "Pull My Daisy", the title of which was drawn from a movie featuring Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.
In 1997, the Nectarine No.9 backed former Clash associate Jock Scot on his spoken-word release, My Personal Culloden. The following year's Fried For Blue Material included their contribution to the Creeping Bent label's Singles Club, "Port Of Mars". In the new millennium, the band relocated to the Beggars Banquet Records label and released the excellent , yet experimental slab of cut-and-paste pop schizophrenia, Received, Transgressed & Transmitted. The album featured input from both Jock Scot and ex-Pop Group and Rip Rig And Panic member Gareth Sager. The band's second album release for Beggars Banquet, I Love Total Destruction appeared in early 2004. The Creeping Bent compilation released in 1999 is an effective reminder of Henderson's enduring presence on the margins of the UK music scene.

Atrocity exhibition

oystered 23 (apr. '07)

Total running time 4:33:47.
1. opsvik & jennings the last country village (commuter anthems CD/rune grammofon) (4:08)
2. tarwater world of things to touch (spider smile CD/morr music) (3:22)
3. bill callahan sycamore (woke on a whaleheart CD/drag city) (5:36)
4. deerhunter wash off (flourescent grey CDep/kranky) (5:47)
5. our sleepless forest the tinderbox (free the future mp3/type) (6:57)
6. organ eye tema #1 (organ eye CD/staubgold) (25:00)
7. senking mist (list/raster-noton) (4:48)
8. baby ford & zip the riverbed (glidin’ along the riverbed 12”/perlon) (9:16)
9. shackleton blood on my hands (ricardo villalobos apocalypso now mix) (soundboy punishments dbl CD/skull disco) (18:34)
10. moskitoo paddle (drape CD/12k) (4:18)
11. blonde redhead my impure hair (23 CD/4AD) (4:50)
12. islaja suru ei (ulual yyy CD/fonal) (5:15)
13. fursaxa clé elum (alone in the dark wood CD/atp recordings) (1:47)
14. grouper close cloak (way their crept LP/type) (8:45)
15. valet blood is clean (blood is clean CD/kranky) (4:59)
16. alessandro bosetti exposé #16 (exposé CD/die schachtel zeit) (28:12)
17. david toop falling light (sound body CD/samadhisound) (10:31)
18. machinefabriek stofstuk (stofstuk CD/machinefabriek) (5:30)
19. william basinski evening scars (shortwavemusic CD/2062) (8:36)
20. alva noto haliod xerrox copy 6 (xerrox vol.1 CD/raster-noton) (6:42)
21. erik enocksson with its dark tail curled ‘round the garage, pt. 1 (farväl falkenberg CD/kning disk) (2:09)
22. seefeel silent pool (quique [redux edition] dbl CD/too pure) (7:02)
23. nightcats inside (inside 12”/k2) (6:58)
24. reinhard voigt charge your dreams (charge your dreams 12”/kompakt) (6:15)
25. alex under extrapezlo (1, 2, 3 responda otrapez 12”/trapez) (6:53)
26. astral social club star guzzlers part 1 (star guzzlers LP/qbico) (19:08)
27. vibracathedral orchestra the sun balance (a3) (the sun balance/the open knot LP/qbico) (4:43)
28. vibracathedral orchestra rainbow whirlwind (wisdom thunderbolt CD/vhf) (12:37)
29. the fun years softy as stilts (life-sized psychoses CD/barge recordings) (10:09)
30. oren ambarchi lost like a star (lost like a star LP/bo’weavil) (14:41)
31. michael flower octave #1 (returning to knowing nothing LP/qbico) (5:41)
32. tarentel untitled (a) (home ruckus : double-sided air 7”/type) (4:47)
--
Atrocity Exhibition, an epiphany: “Atrocity Exhibition” – the first track on Closer – was the first Joy Division song I ever heard. I begged my older friend to bring his record to school and let me borrow it for the night. He was part of this cool group of kids a year older than me who all had weird haircuts and quirky fashion sense—they thought, and everybody thought—they were punks. Einsturzende and Bauhaus t-shirts. These band’s logos looked cool and I was very curious. I was already digging New Order, and knew they came out of the ashes of the even more mysterious and anonymous Joy Division. I was tapping into the whole 4AD aesthetic as well, and their record covers looked very impenetrable and interesting, like some of the 4AD albums and 12” singles I had been buying.

Okay, so this was like 1985—I know, I know, it’s all a bit embarrassing, but you can’t help when and where you are born, right? So anyway, getting back to Closer, and, namely, “Atrocity Exhibition.” My friend brings the album to school, I promise to him I’ll take good care of it and bring it back to him the next day. So, I have no idea what to expect—no “Love Will Tear Us Apart” or “Disorder” or “Transmission” under my belt—and all of a sudden this dry, dubby lead bassline comes out only to be followed by this persistent, tribal, triplet drum pattern and what’s this? next – jungle sounds? Monkeys, tropical birds—no, wait, that’s the guitar?! What’s going on? What is this I’m subjecting myself to? This is punk? Sounds more like jungle to me. Until that voice comes in. That voice.

It takes a while, but Ian Curtis finally enters the song and it’s the worst voice I’ve ever heard up to that point in my life. Why in the world did they let that guy sing? I was stunned. Stunned and let down. My expectations were so high for this (that album cover, those older kids with the cool t-shirts…) and at this point I’m seriously thinking this isn’t for me. I’m wasting my time. How can I get to like this? Those cool kids can’t possibly like this. They say they do to be cool. Right?

By the end of “Atrocity Exhibition”—and this is a long track folks, maybe their longest, not counting their live version of the Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray” on Still—when Curtis’ delivery is getting more and more demanding, and maybe more off-key with, “This is the way/Step inside, This is the way/Step inside,” and the drum triplet goes up an octave or whatever drums do and the guitar and bass are making the whole thing a cacaphony—I mean, did they practice at all?—I had to put it on again to make sure of what I just heard. Convince myself this was no good. And then again. Well there is a groove there isn’t there? And again. And those guitars sure do sound exotic. I’ve never heard a guitar like that before. And again. Heck, that voice isn’t so bad. Punk though? More like funeral music for the dying (well, not that far off there). And again. How totally and utterly unique this was! I was hooked. The rest of Closer is far more normal sounding in song structure, in fact, the next track “Isolation” is practically a New Wave Euro-pop Top 40 hit compared to what my ears and head were just put through.

I figured, at first, I just wasn’t getting it—whatever Joy Division was all about. Through years of continued listening I finally am (still figuring it out, that is). And, in hindsight, I think I started out with (one of) their most difficult song(s). Now of course, “Atrocity Exhibition” is one of my favorites, probably for the test the band put me through that night nearly 25 years ago. And of course weeks and months and years of repeated play. “Atrocity Exhibition” was definitely a “gateway song” for me. Just check out this post for further proof of that.

One of the tracks that might have that “Atrocity Exhibition” affect here is Alessandro Bosetti’s “Exposé #16.” I’ll admit, it’s a tough but compelling listen. It’s not noisy, but is it music? I listened to the album a week straight trying not to hate it. Now I love it. It’s one of those you’re “rewarded for your patience” tracks. I don’t know if I was more happy listening to the song or happy that it was over, or proud of myself for sticking it out for nearly a half an hour. But now there definitely is a meditative, calming quality to it for me. There’s some other “difficult” tracks on here, but there’s also some real immediate, indie-pop cuts and some real beautiful slow-burning ecstatic droners. Some long vinyl only cuts as well. This post is definitely over ambitious. Maybe even atrocious for its over four-and-a-half-hour playing length. It’s taken months to get through all the music and figure out a way to put it all together to make some sort of sense or flow. Hopefully it can keep all of you entertained for at least a fraction of the time it took to assemble it. Cheers.

Here come the warm jets

oystered 22 (mar. '07)


Total running time 3:39:28.
1. jasper tx a (d+a 3” CDep/self-released) (9:59)
2. gui boratto beautiful life (chromophobia CD/kompakt) (8:31)
3. axolotl forclusion (memory theatre CD/important) (8:45)
4. lcd soundsystem someone great (sound of silver CD/dfa) (6:26)
5. svarte greiner a night without harm (a night without harm MP3/type) (18:19)
6. lawrence english end game (for varying degrees of winter CD/baskaru) (7:15)
7. pole düsseldorf (steingarten CD/~scape) (4:26)
8. the field the deal (from here we go sublime CD/kompakt) (10:03)
9. burning star core the universe is designed to break your heart (blood lightning 2007 CD/no fun productions) (11:13)
10. rafael toral portable amplifier 3 (space solo 1 CD/quecksilber) (8:01)
11. andrew chalk untitled #1 (goldfall CD/faraway press) (22:50)
12. jörg burger polyform 1 (polyform 1 12”/k2) (5:56)
13. machinefabriek splinter 1 (splinters MP3/machinefabriek) (0:53)
14. jens zimmermann tranquillité (tranquillité 12”/k2) (12:19)
15. panda bear good girl/carrots (person pitch CD/paw tracks) (12:42)
16. jasper tx some things broken, some things lost (a darkness CD/lidar) (21:23)
17. low belarus (drums and guns CD/sub pop) (3:18)
18. dominik eulberg klangteppichverleger wolle (heimische gefilde edit) (heimische gefilde CD/traum schallplatten) (4:49)
19. the high llamas boing backwards (can cladders CD/drag city) (0:45)
20. machinefabriek zucht 1 (slaapzucht CD/root strata) (13:27)
21. arve henriksen glacier descent (strjon CD/rune grammofon) (7:31)
22. pantha du prince saturn strobe (this bliss CD/dial) (7:28)
23. stars of the lid the daughters of quiet minds (and their refinement of the decline 2CD/kranky) (13:22)

So this post’s centerpiece is Andrew Chalk’s “Untitled #1” from his gorgeous release, Goldfall. To me it’s a combination of Stephan Mathieu’s blurred electronica, William Basinski’s opiate A Red Score in Tile, David Sylvian’s landmark Approaching Silence and the sound of well lit and manicured Hollywood swimming pools at night. And this whole three-and-a-half hour set revolves around it. Makes me wanna get everything Andrew Chalk’s put out on his own Faraway Press imprint.
The first three tracks’ running order is meant as an homage to the Spiritualized Ladies and Gentlemen-era live show that started with their cover of Staple Singers’ calm yet building intensity of “O Happy Day” into “Clear Light/Clear Rush”’s ecstatic release and “Shine A Light”’s comforting come down. After that one-two-three knock out punch you almost thought the show was over. But it was just the beginning. So too with Jasper Tx’s scorching sunrise “A,” Gui Boratto’s euphoric “Beautiful Life” and Axolotl’s noise-lullaby, “Forclusion”–with three hours still remaining in the mix. That’s what I was aiming at anyway, somewhat successfully I think.
You might say things sort of “die at the knee” with track five, Svarte Greiner’s “A Night Without Harm,” but given the subject matter of the previous song, LCD Soundsystem’s “Someone Great,” the empty, ghostly vibe is fitting.
Things sort of start over, with Lawrence English’s winter ode, into Pole’s comeback dub and The Field’s hypnotic maximalism.
Panda Bear’s “Good Girl/Carrots” is another peak here. I refused to listen to it when it came out two years ago, amidst all the “album of the year” hype but it still sounds better than most current styles today. Person Pitch is a wild combination of The Beach Boys (you’d be forgiven if you actually thought that was Brian Wilson singing), African Highlife, Jamaican dub and European dance. This genius diamond of a record harks back to Mercury Rev’s over-the-top Boces.
The set’s closing hour-plus is meant as a slow evisceration of itself, with little signs of life along the way—Low’s sole take on electro-pop, The High Llamas’ interlude, Arve Henriksen’s falsetto vocals on “Glacier Descent, ” Pantha Du Prince’s classically tinged heartbeat techno… After listening to Stars of the Lid’s And Their Refinement of the Decline two-plus hour opus a number of times trying to single out one of its many worthy tracks, the name for the post came to me, as their droning half-melodies reminded me of summer vapor trails and Brian Eno’s own ambient work. Sorry to give it all away. I feel better. And I can’t believe there’s two consecutive posts with songs simply titled “A.” Nuts.
Oh, I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but I’ve decided to ditch the somewhat redundant sun/nature shots. I’m not sure if I have an eye for capturing what I’m really seeing/feeling. Instead, I’m taking back covers and inside sleeve art from one of the recordingsDon’t’cha ever wish sometimes the artist would have chosen the back cover to be the front cover? Works for me because I’ve always thought back covers and sometimes inside sleeve art get neglected. Buy Cocteau Twins’ Victorialand for a perfect example of what I’m talking about.
Photo credit: inner sleeve to Arve Henriksen’s Strjon CD (Kim Hiorthøy). Previous post’s photo credit: inner sleeve from Rafael Anton Irisarri’s Daydreaming CD. Previous post’s photo credit: back cover to Reuber’s Südpol CD. Thanks!