Daisart レコード& CD

Review: Berlin-based Japanese experimentalist Midori Hirano has an impressive track record, with critics and consumers alike responding positively to her blend of evocative electronics and neo-classical movements. "Mirrors In Mirrors" is Hirano's first album for three years and explores similar sonic territory. Opening with a sublime piano exercise that sounds like it was recorded from several miles away (the beguiling "Close To Life"), the set sees Hirano wring maximum emotion from a relatively sparse number of musical elements - most notably piano, simple electronic motifs and sometimes densely layered field recordings. Strangely enough, the album's most impactful moment, "Sleeping Under The Raintrees", is also its most electronic.

Review: RECOMMENDED
Have you heard much as warm as 'But Not In This Room' recently? A subtly mesmerising introduction to a stunningly beautiful album, fans of DNTEL's lusher ends should take note, albeit in this instance we're talking endless notes and soft chimes rather than anything you might call a song.

Most of My Seat & Weep feels similarly like it's warming up, 'Yellow Leaf Flutters On A Nail', for example, is akin to stepping into a gong bath on a hot summer's day. Those who have will understand. In terms of musicality, 'Petals', featuring Emile Frankel, might take first prize here - its slowly emerging piano keys gradually finding one another to form a distinct arrangement that's neither forceful nor benign. Before you know it, you're in and never want to leave. Ever.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Record sleeve damaged, product in working order***


RECOMMENDED
Have you heard much as warm as 'But Not In This Room' recently? A subtly mesmerising introduction to a stunningly beautiful album, fans of DNTEL's lusher ends should take note, albeit in this instance we're talking endless notes and soft chimes rather than anything you might call a song.

Most of My Seat & Weep feels similarly like it's warming up, 'Yellow Leaf Flutters On A Nail', for example, is akin to stepping into a gong bath on a hot summer's day. Those who have will understand. In terms of musicality, 'Petals', featuring Emile Frankel, might take first prize here - its slowly emerging piano keys gradually finding one another to form a distinct arrangement that's neither forceful nor benign. Before you know it, you're in and never want to leave. Ever.

Review: Justin Cantrell and MDO launched their ambient-focused Picnic project last year via a digital-only missive on C-. Here they pitch up on Aussie imprint Daisart with their self-titled debut album, a wonderfully crackling, opaque and atmospheric affair in which distant, bleeping electronics, Chill Out style ambient house textures, mutilated samples and slow-burn instrumentation combine to create becalmed, immersive and meditative mood pieces. It's an undeniably gentle, slowly unfurling affair that frequently buries intricate melodic details under thick clouds of gaseous chords. As a result, it feels both strangely distant and hugely personal - a rare feat with drone-influenced albums of this type. It's well worth a listen, though there aren't that many around, so we'd suggest doing that sooner rather than later.

Review: With the gentle waves of melody floating calmly beneath a layer of distortion somewhere between the crackling of old wax and gentle raindrops, Bonus makes no secret of its intent to make you feel utterly, irreversibly relaxed. And things only get more inviting as the album progresses, with work like 'Leaving a Conversation' defining what we're talking about. These are tunes to get lost in, all thoughts and concerns slowly dissipating into some ether or other.

None of which is to say this is background music, or anything short of powerful ambient drone. 'Elkhorn' is a great example - walls of sound and a strong sense of rhythmic urgency open the track, which gradually builds subtle beats around those more gentile tones, creating something that could work on dancefloors or amid meditation sessions alike, with 'Folds & Rips' and 'Drops In The Water' among the other items here on a similar tip.

Review: picnic charmed all and sundry with their delicate, elegantly cracked ambient electronics upon first emerging in the last year or so. Tied to the Australian Daisart label, they make a welcome return with a follow-up record which expands their sound into intriguing electro-acoustic realms, with some prominent piano and found sound elements merging with quivering granular synthesis and swirling atmospherics. If you loved the first, self-titled album, you're guaranteed to love this one too, even more so because the sound has moved on without losing its fundamental character. And if you're new to picnic, don't delay in getting some of this exquisite ambience into your life.