pilole 2014 settembre/ottobre

SETTEMBRE 2014	OTTOBRE 2014
ALT-J "This is all yours" This Is All Yours was recorded in Spring 2014 with the same producer/engineer (Charlie Andrew) and studio that yielded alt-J's million-selling Mercury Prize-winning debut record, An Awesome Wave. [ file under: indie pop ]		APHEX TWIN "Syro" Syro (pronounced /sa?ro?/; stylised as SYRO) is a studio album by the British electronic musician Richard D James, released under the pseudonym Aphex Twin on 19 September 2014 on Warp Records. It's his sixth studio album as Aphex Twin and his first studio album release in 13 years since Drukqs. [ file under: electronica ]
ANJOU "S/t" This dense and often foreboding debut from experimental electronic trio Anjou finds formerLabradford bandmembers Mark Nelson and Robert Donne reuniting for the first time since their last outing as Labradford, 2001's stripped-down effort Fixed::Context. Labradford's work through the '90s was groundbreaking in its exploration of texture and minimalism, but their looming fields of ambience and crackle were far too often swept into the margins of space rock, underestimating the depth of Nelson and Donne's unique relationship with sounds both lovely and uneasy. [ file under: pan*american ]		A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN "Atomos" Adam Wiltzie (Stars Of The Lid) and Dustin O'Halloran reprise their acclaimed strings and keys duo, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, with Atomos I - XII for Erased Tapes. We can safely report that it's every bit as gorgeous as their eponymous debut, but you probably already got the hint from their teaser 12", Atomos VII which landed earlier this year backed with a fearsome Ben Frost re-interpretation. The further XI parts sweep us to the most picturesque modern classical panoramas imaginable. [ file under: contemporary ]
BISHOP ALLEN "Lights out" Lights Out is a good-sounding record in the sense it’s well-polished and has obviously been carefully produced. Each track abides by the synth-heavy, summer-sounding indie-pop formula for success. And yet, it’s instantly forgettable. With five years between albums you’d expect Lights Out to be a culmination of the creativity that’s been swelling behind the wall of Bishop Allen’s hiatus. But it plays more like a fast-tracked follow-up record. [ file under: college pop ]		GUI BORATTO "Abaporu" Gui Boratto strings together various contemporary strands of pop-infused techno and house and translates them into his very own stream of groove consciousness, also an act of cultural appropriation, as both Abaporu's cover artwork and title suggest: putting an inspired twist on Brazil's most famous modernist painting from early 20th century artist Tarsilo Do Amaral, they draw from the rich history of Brazilian modern art, where European and indigenous influences would collide in the most exciting manner. [ file under: deep downtempo ]
FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON "Enviroment five" Following on from the themes of the first 4 Environments albums, Five explores the space /time/dimension that exists when we die. The moment of departure. It includes appearances from Daniel Pemberton and Riz Maslen (Neotropic). The Environment series originally began as an archive of previously unreleased recordings but Environment Five features thirteen all new songs recorded in the first half of 2014. [ file under: electronica ]		CARIBOU "Our love" Our Love, the new album from Caribou features collaborations with Jessy Lanza and Owen Pallett. It was mixed by David Wrench and features artwork by Jason Evans / Matthew Cooper. Our Love is a crisp and compact collage of contemporary electronic music. [ file under: indie electro ]
JUAN MACLEAN "In a dream" Third album from The Juan Maclean. If anything, this new LP is further evidence of the undeniable creative chemistry between house music wizard Juan Maclean & vocalist / former LCD Soundsystem member Nancy Whang. (Pitchfork) The album takes its musical cues from Moroder's Munich to the Funky Nassau sounds of Compass Point and to anytime in downtown NYC. [ file under: deepish house ]		DARK SKY "Imagin" The long awaited debut LP from Dark Sky. The album bears traces of funk, post rock, a thick layer of trip hop, even balearic house, bossa nova, disco, 80's pop and ambient. . Grey Reverend features on the lead single Silent Fall to beautiful effect, with an outcome sitting somewhere between James Blake and Moderat. Elsewhere Cornelia (of Portico Quartet fame) delivers Elizabeth Fraser like vocals on Nothing Chances, Vivid and Purple Clouds providing a perfect soundtrack to the late summer. [ file under: electronica ]
MERCHANDISE "After the end" Recorded in Tampa, Florida at the band’s home, lead singer Carson Cox described the group as having exploded our reality to NME whilst it was recorded in early 2014, with singles Little Killer, Enemy and Green Lady (Best New Track – Pitchfork) heralding the band’s new sound. With mixing duties handled by Gareth Jones, the record is described by Dazed and Confused as their most radical and precise transformation and a total rebirth by MOJO. [ file under: indie pop ]		FOXYGEN "...and star power" 2013 saw the mercurial success of 21st Century the debut Foxygen album. The quick-fire success made for an altogether turbulent year for the band. Foxygen's always captivating live performances shifted from eruptive to sometimes frightening and then, just put on ice altogether. But Sam France and Rado found secret sanctuary in their new studio, Dream Star, and holing up in some of LA's most famous hotels for more recording. [ file under: laurel canyon ]
RED SNAPPER "Hyena" The album was inspired by the band’s recent soundtrack for cult 70s Senegalese road movie Touki Bouki, the first independent African film ever!, which was recently restored by Martin Scorsese and is itself an afro-funk odyssey. Red Snapper toured with the film for a year, playing the soundtrack live to audiences across Europe; themes from the score having been developed and extended to form Hyena. Hitting the studio at the end of this long haul on the road has delivered a super-tight energized performance, reminiscent of a 1970’s approach to recording. [ file under: jazz funk ]		FUTURE 3 "With and without" The seminal electro trio Future 3 – comprised of Anders Remmer (aka Dub Tractor), Thomas Knak (aka Opiate) and Jesper Skaaning (aka Acustic) return with an album of airy, ethereal yet epic compositions that both nod to the trio's nineties roots but also take inall the various musical experiments, ventures and releases that have seenthe light of day since 2001. [ file under: scandotronica ]
ANGUS & JULIA STONE "S/t" Australian duo Angus & Julia Stone release their self-titled studio album. Produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin, it's a record steeped in feeling and filled with a newfound freedom and confidence that's palpable throughout. The album is pure Angus & Julia, but there's a brand new potency here, a richness you can't ignore. It takes the inherent strengths of the duo and adds news colours, blended harmonies, a new depth and strength to their rhythm section and more experimental guitar textures. [ file under: indie pop ]		STEVE GUNN "Way out weather" "A voice as rich and warm as Tim Buckley or a young Van Morrison" - The Wire "His tunes unfurl like bales of wire rolling down country roads" - Uncut Way Out Weather completes Steve Gunn's satisfying transformation into a mature songwriter, singer and bandleader of sublelty and authority. [ file under: west coast ]
PAUL WHITE "Shaker notes" Paul White makes his debut for R&S, putting aside his his sampler in favour of drums, bass, guitar, synths and his own vocals. Shaker Notes is daubed with deep, ultramarine hues and charts the intoxication, heartbreak and ultimate triumph of a grand love affair. [ file under: electronica ]		MARTIN NONSTATIC "Inner landscapes" Embedded between its otherworldly opening and a dreamy outro are 11 aural landscapes forming a 74 minute tour-de-force, and after its long production phase the emotional waveforms and clear ideas of Martin Nonstatic’s Inner Landscapes have finally found their place and are ready to be heard on the outside. [ file under: raster-noton ]
ZAMMUTO "Anchor" Second album from founding member and principal songwriter of acclaimed collage-pop duo the Books. Features guest vocals from Daniela Gesundheit of Snowblink. Following the dissolution of his groundbreaking collage-pop duo, the Books, Zammuto rebounded with an eponymous debut album submerged in transitional anxiety and audio effects designed to intentionally obscure the very humanistic qualities that marked Nick Zammuto's best work in the Books. [ file under: folktronika ]		ERLEND OYE "Legao" Erlend Øye is a travelling singer-songwriter who has been making music in various constellations since the late '90s. He sang for Röyksopp, while his own bands are Kings Of Convenience and The Whitest Boy Alive, who recently split up. The songs on Legao were arranged and recorded with the Icelandic reggae band Hjálmar. [ file under: reggae convenience ]
		PEAKING LIGHTS "Cosmic logic" On their sixth album, Cosmic Logic, the California-based husband-and-wife duo take the plunge all the way out of the ambient psychedelia that flourished inside their first few records into a beat-heavy, dub-inflected corner of synthpop. Cosmic Logic is by far the most concrete work Peaking Lights have laid to tape, and at points it can hammer down too bluntly. But hearing multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Indra Dunis assume such a confident stance against her husband Aaron Coyes’ bright synth configurations can be thrilling. [ file under: synth dub ]
		SBTRKT "Wonder where we land" Following his three-plate special, the dancey Transitions 12"s from this summer, Aaron SBTRKT Jerome delivers his radio-ready full-length, Wonder Where We Land. While SBTRKT's still-in-rotation 2011 debut seemed like a great slice of British post-dubstep electronic pop with one foot in the underground and the other kicking towards the stars, what held that record together was the tight-knit feel of the two main vocalists, Sampha and Jessie Ware. [ file under: breakbeat ]