Bowery Electric - Beat

Bowery Electric were an NYC outfit, active from 1993 to 2000. They played a futuristic, spacey blend of trip hop, gazer and ambient, best highlighted on their magnificent 1996 effort - Beat

Somewhat bizarrely, Beat received a large amount of critical buzz over its supposedly groundbreaking fusion of hip-hop/techno rhythms and the band's older dream pop stylings. Anyone who had heard Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine or a fair amount of Chapterhouse's material probably had some things to say about that judgment, while in turn many dance mavens saw the band's efforts as already terribly outdated in terms of general sonic approach. Set all this aside and concentrate on enjoying Beat in and of itself, though, and the fine qualities of both group and album come through quite clearly. Bowery Electric may not be on the cutting edge, but Schwendener and Chandler aren't pretending to dwell there. The title track sets the album's tone from the start, an open-ended guitar drone from Chandler later accompanied by Schwendener's low-key bass and distanced singing matched with a crisp drum loop. Variations on this basic formula throughout Beat: slight rhythms are sometimes more prominent, sometimes buried, guitar lines are clearer here or more heavily produced there -- but taken as a whole the release is quietly intoxicating. Standouts include "Fear of Flying," with a strong guitar scream/wash from Chandler and a more upfront bass/drum combination, and the thoroughly but beautifully zoned out "Black Light," which features a rare Chandler vocal and an enveloping delay-pedal-produced atmosphere. Notably, the drumming on the latter track is more in line with, say, early Pink Floyd or Slowdive rather than the loops used elsewhere. Both performers are incredibly undemonstrative throughout the album -- Beat works best as something either totally concentrated on or left running as ambient music; a party record this isn't. At times Bowery Electric eschew percussion entirely, to lovely effect: "Under the Sun" is a brief but dark piece, a low bassline providing the only forward motion. 


black light

The Verve - The Verve EP + Voyager 1 EP

The Verve, fairly well known act. What's not that well known is that before they broke the mainstream with Bittersweet symphony et al they were a purely shoegazer, space rock act in their formative years. They literally made some of the best guitar music of all time with their debut EP and this live document, titled Voyager 1, is an amazing document of this fact. Props go to Nick Mccabe, one of the most underappreciated guitarists ever. So yeah, here you have it, one of my favourite EPs plus its live counterpart. They would never be this good again. 

feel

she's a superstar

Electrelane - The Power Out

Electrelane were an all girl quartet from the UK, Brighton specifically. They formed in 1998 and disbanded in 2007, but have reunited recently. I'm hoping for a a couple of records from their side soon. Here's my favourite of theirs, 2004's The Power Out.

Power pop? Post punk? Experimental Pop? Jazz? Choral Music? Nietzsche? Singing in 4 languages? Perfect krautpop that would make Stereolab jealous? Ladies and gentlemen, this is quite possibly the greatest album put out by an all girl band, ever. I'm actually surprised Arcade Fire was the big deal in 2004, because hey, as good as Funeral was, as far as pop music went in 2004; very, very few people were worthy of comparison to Electrelane.

you make me weak at the knees

Alphane Moon - The Echoing Grove

In their incarnation as their main project 'Our glassie Azoth', the Welsh duo of Dafydd and Ruth traverse the chaotic elemental heart of psychedelic music. Forgoing riffs for alchemy, OgA’s albums are nothing less than howling, hair-raising exorcisms of blinding white noise. When the squall of OgA’s feedback hurricanes subsides, Alphane Moon is revealed. As experienced in the opening swirl of “An Open Entrance,” these magic moments achieve a rare sense of consequence. We witness the total transfiguration of Dafydd and Ruth, their swaddling of Dionysian cacophony cast aside for the white robes of pastoral mysticism. The Echoing Grove was originally released in multiple cassette micro-runs. For most, however, this extraordinary CD will serve as a first exposure to Alphane Moon’s arcane workings. Prayer and incantation both figure within this duo's acid-gilded ceremonies, though not in any traditional sense. What few words are uttered owe everything to the tradition of British Isles folk-poetry. This is a ritual in sound, not text. Guitars coruscate and radiate, elevating tricky, Pink Floyd-ian noises to a state of luminescent drone/flux sublimity. From the glimmering “Circle Of Four” to the blazing psychedelirium of “Reap A Field Of Light,” the sound that floods The Echoing Grove is absolutely supernatural. This isn’t just music—it’s magic .

celestial influences

Snowman - Absence

Snowman are an Aussie band, originally from Perth but based in London, until they disbanded in February this year. Which is kind of really fucking unfortunate, because they are one of the finest bands Australia had seen until now. This is their swansong 'Absence', released earlier this year.

Ethereal rock music is the best way to put this. Brings in the best bits of Liars, This Heat and Radiohead (for lazy comparison's sake) to create something singular and seductive all at the same time. Most underrated record of this year? perhaps.

∆

Cranes - Loved

Cranes were a British band formed in 1986, whose style has ranged all over from dream pop, gothic minimalism, shoegaze, alt rock and trip hop. Alison Shaw's vocal delivery is the dealbreaker here, either you're going to fall helpless in love with these sounds or shun them altogether. Here's my favourite record of theirs, Loved.

James and Alison Shaw, the brother-sister songwriting team from Portsmouth, England that's best known as CRANES, are not without pretensions: They originally planned to make Loved a double album with half devoted to a musical interpretation of The Flies, the expressionist play by tortured French novelist Jean Paul Sartre. That plan was shelved (they had to settle for cover art by French painter Edgar Degas), and instead, their third album delivers 11 oddly seductive pop songs that mix brutally powerful drumming, a Cocteau Twins-like wall of shimmering guitars, and the lovable little-girl-on- helium vocals of Alison Shaw. Almost flawless. 


into the night

Michael Mayer - The Immer Series

 Michael Mayer is an iconic dj/producer and electronic musician that co-runs seminal electronic label Kompakt with Wolfgang Voigt (Gas). He is a god of sorts when it comes to making mixes within the minimal techno/microhouse scene, as evidenced by the Immer series.

part 1
part 2

part 1
part 2

immer 3