Radiohead - Amnesiac
Gas - Pop
Neil Young - Tonight's The Night Live At The Roxy
Fennesz - Endless Summer
David Bowie - Black Star
Bear's Den - Islands
Retaining it's place in the player the Tonight's the Night Live album is proving very popular at Bamyasi Towers. With the title track occurring twice on the album the catchy bass riff and vocal chorus seems to be getting more than it's fair share when the player is on random repeat. Members of the Bamyasi family have even started repeating: Tonight's the night, tonight's the ni-ni-ni-ni-night...
A couple of albums here that I now consider near the best of the particular artists in question: David Bowie's final album Black Star and Radiohead's Amnesiac.
With it's jazz honkings and strident bass and drums Black Star couldn't really be more different to Bowie's heyday albums of the early 70s, except for the ever distinctive voice which remained strong to the end. A very powerful final statement from an amazing artist.
With it's jazz honkings and strident bass and drums Black Star couldn't really be more different to Bowie's heyday albums of the early 70s, except for the ever distinctive voice which remained strong to the end. A very powerful final statement from an amazing artist.
Amnesiac is probably not many Radiohead fan's first choice for favourite album but I much prefer it to the celebrated Ok Computer.
Also two albums from the ambient/electronic genre which I've been reading a lot about - Gas and Fennesz.
Gas is the stage name for German electronic musician Wolfgang Voigt. Pop (2000) is the third in a trilogy of albums he produced with 1997's Zauberberg and 1999's Königsforst. The instrumental music is heavily layered mostly without beats or perceptible changes. The dense soundscape of repetitive loops and drones reminds me of the William Basinski albums I've heard, particularly The Disintegration Loops, although this is much more easy listening. It's actually very peaceful to listen to - hypnotic, and yes, I would say, beautiful. I think I'll play this album a lot.
I think the boundaries between "musical" and "non-musical" are in a state of flux. Otherwise, I do not really care about any "musicality" related to GAS. Emotions, structure, aesthetics are more important to me. Melodies in the classical sense are not supposed to be in GAS, although they exist, as hidden and over-layered as the chord changes. But you have to notice them.
Christian Fennesz is an Austrian musician whose modus operandi is heavily treated guitar. Endless Summer is his third album released in 2001, and his most critically acclaimed work. The music is more demanding than Gas and at first I found it quite grating but am now starting to warm to its appeal.
Again, some of the looped droney pieces like A Year In A Minute remind me of Basinski whereas a more melodic piece like Shisheido with it's pleasing chord changes reminds me of the brilliant Four Tet or Blue States. The final and longest track is a fast keyboard loop over loud static from the Terry Riley/Philip Glass school of minimalism. It gradually begins to distort like My Bloody Valentine, or, yes, again Those Disintegration Loops. Like the Gas I have a very strong feeling I'm going to be playing this album a lot this year.
The clip below should be (youtube have changed their software again) a playlist for a couple of tracks from both Fennesz and GAS (capitals applied this time):
A grainy, blissful album that resembles easy-listening music coming through on the broken broadcast of a distant star.
Mike Powell, Pitchfork
Again, some of the looped droney pieces like A Year In A Minute remind me of Basinski whereas a more melodic piece like Shisheido with it's pleasing chord changes reminds me of the brilliant Four Tet or Blue States. The final and longest track is a fast keyboard loop over loud static from the Terry Riley/Philip Glass school of minimalism. It gradually begins to distort like My Bloody Valentine, or, yes, again Those Disintegration Loops. Like the Gas I have a very strong feeling I'm going to be playing this album a lot this year.
The clip below should be (youtube have changed their software again) a playlist for a couple of tracks from both Fennesz and GAS (capitals applied this time):
Retaining it's place in the player the Tonight's the Night Live album is proving very popular at Bamyasi Towers. With the title track occurring twice on the album the catchy bass riff and vocal chorus seems to be getting more than it's fair share when the player is on random repeat. Members of the Bamyasi family have even started repeating: Tonight's the night, tonight's the ni-ni-ni-ni-night...
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