W.25TH US レコード& CD

Review: Ellen Arkbro's accomplished drone practice won her fans in an instant when she released her debut album For Organs And Brass in 2017, ably followed up by CHORDS two years later. The Swedish composer arrives on Superior Viaduct sub label W.25th with her latest work, which draws on Arkbro's exploration of resonant spaces as a result of her increased profile and the chance to perform in many acoustically-rich spaces around the world. Setting up drones on organs and from other instruments, she tunes and retunes and then moves through the space to explore the harmonic and spatial behaviour of the sound and this album is an attempt to manifest her observations in five pieces. "Rough, focused and yet strangelyAtransparent" is how she describes the sweet spot she's looking for, and you'll find many such moments on Sounds While Waiting.

Review: Prolific Canadian composer Sarah Davachi shows no signs of slowing down. 2019 is barely six months old and she's already offering up her second set of the year, her seventh in total since the start of 2017. This time round, the Los Angeles-based experimentalist has returned to her roots, delivering a set of two distinctive halves. The A-side "Perfumes" suite is startlingly simple in concept, with Davachi creating a dreamlike mood via sustained, slowly shifting church organ chords and gentle piano motifs. It's little short of stunning. Turn to side B and you'll be treated to an exercise in avant-garde modern classical, where slowly vibrating strings and minimalist movements slowly evolve over 21 spell binding minutes.

Review: Prolific Canadian composer Sarah Davachi shows no signs of slowing down. 2019 is barely six months old and she's already offering up her second set of the year, her seventh in total since the start of 2017. This time round, the Los Angeles-based experimentalist has returned to her roots, delivering a set of two distinctive halves. The A-side "Perfumes" suite is startlingly simple in concept, with Davachi creating a dreamlike mood via sustained, slowly shifting church organ chords and gentle piano motifs. It's little short of stunning. Turn to side B and you'll be treated to an exercise in avant-garde modern classical, where slowly vibrating strings and minimalist movements slowly evolve over 21 spell binding minutes.

Review: Prolific Canadian composer Sarah Davachi shows no signs of slowing down. 2019 is barely six months old and she's already offering up her second set of the year, her seventh in total since the start of 2017. This time round, the Los Angeles-based experimentalist has returned to her roots, delivering a set of two distinctive halves. The A-side "Perfumes" suite is startlingly simple in concept, with Davachi creating a dreamlike mood via sustained, slowly shifting church organ chords and gentle piano motifs. It's little short of stunning. Turn to side B and you'll be treated to an exercise in avant-garde modern classical, where slowly vibrating strings and minimalist movements slowly evolve over 21 spell binding minutes.

Review: Laraaji is a recognised name within the experimental music scene, responsible for countless - and monumental - collaborations with the great Brian Eno. Sun Araw feels like exactly the right artist to scout for a new collaboration in 2016, and the two fit together like hand in glove on this two-tracker for W.25th, a new offshoot of the excellent Superior Viaduct. "Liepgzig (Part 1)" is a deep, liquid-like abstraction that covers many styles and ideas, bringing forth several different elements like harps and sporadic synth bleeps - a truly cinematic experience; "Part 2" of the same tune develops a beat among its arrangement, one that doesn't stop the track from losing any of its waywardness. The first segment of "Lausanne" is more spiritual, like some sort of ritual to the Gods, while the second veers head-first into a pool of bric-a-brac percussion with an Eastern tint. Excellent and wholeheartedly recommended.

Review: Just when you thought it was safe to trust that former Women member Cindy Lee/Patrick Flegel has come up with something truly romantic and suited to its Valentine's Day release, a sample gets thrown into the mix, wherein a female voice talks about feeling dejected by Jesus but simultaneously rejecting Satan, thus being cast into some nothingness where neither good nor evil is your friend.

In truth there were smatterings of horror show blood all over this well before that point. It's a creeping menace hidden below 1960s blissful naivety, which makes the whole thing more effective. In certain moments it erupts from below, cacophonies of tortured noise and EBM bass, before the wind rushes through and replaces a storm with blue sky harmonies and innocent sunny days. It's electronic experimentation, with roots still traceable back to the old guitar band, and added sax. And eeriness. Exceptional stuff.

Review: Keiji Haino on guitars, vocals and synths, Oren Ambarchi on drums, and Stephen O'Malley on bass. That ain't exactly a bad way to start a band. In fact, around these parts, that sort of line-up is considered an instant purchase, which in our world means no salary at the end of the month! Nazoranai formed back in 2012 and, while the trio have only released three LPs, it's all about the quality. Beginning To Fall In Line Before Me So Decorously The Nature Of All That Must Be Transformed is, all things considered, an acquired taste throughout its two segments of doom. However, there is so much depth to this music that it'll surely appeal to a whole host of music aficionados. From the percussion to the arrangement of its peculiar sonics, there is something in here for all walks of life, not to mention O'Malley's raucous bass hitting complete climax by the end of "Track 2". What a blinder!

Review: Since debuting as Grouper back in 2005, Liz Harris has delivered a swathe of experimentalist albums that explore almost every aspect of ambient and drone music. Here she launches a new project, Nivhek, via an expansive double-album of sparse, atmospheric compositions that tend towards the epic. Really, it's two albums in one. The first slab of wax is entitled "After Its Own Death" and boasts a two-part, non-stop suite of tracks built around echoing choral vocals, dark electronics and blissful bells. It's alternately melancholic, blissful and grippingly intense. In contrast, "Walking In A Spiral Towards The House", the piece stretched across both sides of the second record, is breathtakingly beautiful - a meandering, soft focus trip through chiming, reverb-laden motifs and gentle music box melodies.

Review: Since debuting as Grouper back in 2005, Liz Harris has delivered a swathe of experimentalist albums that explore almost every aspect of ambient and drone music. Here she launches a new project, Nivhek, via an expansive double-album of sparse, atmospheric compositions that tend towards the epic. Really, it's two albums in one. The first slab of wax is entitled "After Its Own Death" and boasts a two-part, non-stop suite of tracks built around echoing choral vocals, dark electronics and blissful bells. It's alternately melancholic, blissful and grippingly intense. In contrast, "Walking In A Spiral Towards The House", the piece stretched across both sides of the second record, is breathtakingly beautiful - a meandering, soft focus trip through chiming, reverb-laden motifs and gentle music box melodies.