Sunday, 17 May 2020

Log #190 - Strum, Swoosh and Glitch

Eddy Bamyasi


Loscil - First Narrows
Loscil - Sea Island
Monolake - Silence
Ulrich Schnauss - Goodbye
Arovane - Tides
Tycho - Awake


I feel my music listening is heading off into a new direction at the moment with the player starting to be dominated by ambient artists over the last few weeks. Something similar happened just about 18 months ago when I started listening to Fennesz, Gas, William Basinski, and Stars Of The Lid, and from the German 70s scene, Cluster and Harmonia and their collaborations with Brian Eno.  

The fleeting gratification offered by mere snippets and trifles.

They were the more mainstream artists, if you can call anything mainstream in this genre, but in addition I alighted upon other artists in the somewhat underground world of "sound design" or "sound art", like James Joys from Belfast and Keith Berry from London. The former's album Glyphic Bloom nearly won my album of the year title for 2019 and deserves a listen (a recent twitter post by the artist bemoaned the fact that no one hears his music and he may as well "toss it into the sea") - with just 38 monthly listeners on the dreaded Spotify, for someone with so much talent, this is distressing, but not surprising - some of this sort of music demands effort and that's an effort many people are not prepared to invest these days. More the shame though, as anything that takes effort often yields greater long term satisfaction in comparison to the fleeting gratification offered by mere snippets and trifles.

This time around my resurgent interest in (recent experimental) David Sylvian, (post rock) Talk Talk and (digital guitarist) Fennesz has led me to some new artists including Tycho (aka Scott Hansen) from San Francisco, Monolake (aka Robert Henke) from Berlin, Ulrich Schnauss also from Germany, Arovane (aka Uwe Zahn) from Germany again, and Loscil (aka Scott Morgan) from Vancouver, Canada. Being from Germany, or Berlin especially, with that town and country's musical pedigree, would seem to offer an advantage in this electronic field.  [..or being called Scott? Ed]

Clean, sharp and minimal.

Ok, on to the music. Well, and the art. The artwork for these types of albums is almost universally brilliant. It's very much part of the overall aesthetic. (Stars Of The Lid won my album cover of the year in 2018). Scott Hansen of Tycho is actually an established graphic designer and all his album covers are beautiful (and themed). Awake graces the top of this post. The others aren't bad either - usually clean, sharp and minimal, like the music therein.

Strum and swoosh.

Tycho and Ulrich Schnauss share the most similarities. I've heard their music be described as "strum and swoosh" - highly reverbed guitars over lush synth pads. The music takes a bit of a pounding in the press (my favoured Pitchfork magazine doesn't think much of Schnauss calling his music inconsequential). Some Tycho albums have been compared to Boards Of Canada but I can't hear much similarity within Awake

Both Schnauss and Tycho are indeed fairly mainstream and easy listening but it's so well done I find it instantly likeable. I tell you what it reminds me most of - both in sound, and in design, is Jean Michel Jarre's 1970s work. I think it will sound great in the car. Will it still offer interest in 6 months' time, or 5 years? If I keep this blog up for that long I'll find out.

Monolake, Loscil and Arovane, are ultimately all a bit more interesting. From this first brief fly past I'd say Arovane seems to be the most upbeat and mainstream - his Tides album dates from way back in 2000 - it's amazing to think such sharp, modern, experimental music, dates from 20 years ago. 

Then Loscil is the most still and ambient. I love both his albums sampled here - beautiful and interesting. Containing some real organic instruments, and fascinating sound effects, over modestly lengthed drones and loops that seem to merge into each other. First Narrows in particular is great - I like the way the same theme seems to return to different tracks throughout the album. This is no spring chicken either, dating from 2004.

A sonic delight.

Then in between the two you get the glitch and wash of Monolake. Silence is a sonic delight - it's not necessarily music, but it's not unmusical either. Rhythm takes precedence over melody - rhythms that are imparted by very subtle sound effects and pulsing elements with merely a hint of actual percussion. I don't know what it is really, but it's endlessly fascinating on the ear. I've heard elements of Monolake's style elsewhere, but it's hard to describe where. As a standalone album it's pretty unique. I read a review elsewhere that suggested Silence should be one of those albums hifi showrooms use to demo the dynamic range of their sound equipment. 

As you can tell by the dates of some of these releases, all these artists are well established and have a wealth of back catalogue which I'll be deep diving into in the coming weeks.



About The Author

Eddy Bamyasi

Eddy is a music writer from Brighton, England, named after a Can record. Each Sunday he logs and reviews the albums that happen to be in his vintage Pioneer 6-CD magazine changer, amongst other things.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Powered by Blogger.

Leading Artists (by appearance)

neil young (26) van morrison (22) john martyn (18) tangerine dream (18) felice brothers (16) pink floyd (14) led zeppelin (13) black sabbath (12) brian eno (12) whitest boy alive (12) bonnie prince billy (11) can (11) david sylvian (11) radiohead (11) talk talk (11) beatles (10) cluster (10) cocteau twins (10) laura marling (10) nick cave (10) afro celts (9) beck (9) bob dylan (9) fennesz (9) genesis (9) iron and wine (8) loscil (8) midlake (8) paolo nutini (8) tom waits (8) autechre (7) foals (7) nucleus (7) richard hawley (7) stars of the lid (7) camel (6) david bowie (6) dj vadim (6) efterklang (6) elo (6) fairport convention (6) harmonia (6) holger czukay (6) kings of convenience (6) low (6) luke vibert (6) matthew e white (6) miles davis (6) sahb (6) the doobie brothers (6) tord gustavsen (6) war on drugs (6) william basinski (6) arovane (5) bear's den (5) black keys (5) boards of canada (5) bob marley (5) calexico (5) edgar froese (5) father john misty (5) hawkwind (5) jan jelinek (5) king crimson (5) mouse on mars (5) nils frahm (5) public service broadcasting (5) robert plant (5) sigur ros (5) takemitsu (5) arbouretum (4) badly drawn boy (4) budgie (4) carly simon (4) carole king (4) decemberists (4) emeralds (4) four tet (4) handsome family (4) hidden orchestra (4) jethro tull (4) jj cale (4) john legend (4) klaus schulze (4) kruder and dorfmeister (4) manuel gottsching (4) opeth (4) penguin cafe orchestra (4) ravi shankar (4) soft hair (4) steely dan (4) the unthanks (4) tim hecker (4) trees (4) ulrich schnauss (4) KLF (3) alan parsons project (3) alex harvey (3) alison krauss (3) alva noto (3) barclay james harvest (3) bon iver (3) bonobo (3) caitlin canty (3) caribou (3) chicago (3) coldplay (3) curtis mayfield (3) david crosby (3) deep purple (3) depeche mode (3) eilen jewell (3) enid (3) fleetwood mac (3) floating points (3) free (3) gorillaz (3) gram parsons (3) grateful dead (3) grobschnitt (3) incredible string band (3) james morrison (3) jill scott (3) john grant (3) john surman (3) keith jarrett (3) kraftwerk (3) lal waterson (3) last shadow puppets (3) lift to experience (3) lynyrd skynyrd (3) mahavishnu orchestra (3) manitoba (3) mike oldfield (3) mike waterson (3) monolake (3) neu! (3) palace brothers (3) philip glass (3) popol vuh (3) quantic (3) rodriguez (3) rokia traore (3) rolling stones (3) rory gallagher (3) roxy music (3) rush (3) simon and garfunkel (3) sly and the family stone (3) steve hillage (3) suede (3) sufjan stevens (3) the comet is coming (3) tim buckley (3) wagon christ (3) wilco (3) 4hero (2) abc (2) ac/dc (2) al stewart (2) amon duul II (2) aphex twin (2) arctic monkeys (2) baka beyond (2) band of horses (2) belle and sebastian (2) blue oyster cult (2) blue states (2) bonzo dog band (2) boris salchow (2) burial (2) cardigans (2) carlos barbosa-lima (2) charles mingus (2) chemical brothers (2) chris rea (2) cinematic orchestra (2) compilations (2) crosby stills nash (2) david darling (2) death in vegas (2) debussy (2) dj shadow (2) doors (2) earl sweatshirt (2) eloy (2) emilie simon (2) erik satie (2) farben (2) festivals (2) fleet foxes (2) francois and the atlas mountains (2) fripp and eno (2) gas (2) gong (2) granados (2) green on red (2) griffin anthony (2) jazzland (2) jean sibelius (2) jeff buckley (2) john coltrane (2) johnny flynn (2) josh t pearson (2) julian cope (2) kamasi washington (2) kanye west (2) kate bush (2) ketil bjornstad (2) la dusseldorf (2) lambchop (2) larkin poe (2) little feat (2) ludovico einaudi (2) magma (2) marianne faithfull (2) marvin gaye (2) mike lazarev (2) money mark (2) morton feldman (2) nektar (2) nightmares on wax (2) ninja (2) nirvana (2) nitin sawhney (2) peace (2) porya hatami (2) prefuse 73 (2) prem joshua (2) randy newman (2) robert fripp (2) ryan adams (2) scorpions (2) scott and maria (2) scott matthews (2) servants of science (2) soft machine (2) steve miller (2) susumu yokota (2) talvin singh (2) the who (2) thievery corporation (2) traffic (2) truckstop honeymoon (2) ufo (2) up bustle and out (2) weather report (2) wiley (2) willard grant conspiracy (2) wishbone ash (2) wyclef jean (2) yes (2) abba (1) acid mothers temple and the cosmic inferno (1) aimee mann (1) air (1) alabama 3 (1) alice coltrane (1) amadou and mariam (1) andy shauf (1) anthony hamilton (1) april wine (1) arcade fire (1) ashra (1) asia (1) badger (1) barber (1) beach boys (1) bee gees (1) beirut (1) bert jansch (1) beuno vista social club (1) bill laswell (1) biosphere (1) bjork (1) blow monkeys (1) bob geldof (1) bob holroyd (1) bob seger (1) bombay bicycle club (1) boubacar traore (1) broken social scene (1) bruce springsteen (1) bruch (1) byline (1) captain beefheart (1) cardi b (1) cast (1) cat stevens (1) catfish and the bottlemen (1) charles and eddie (1) chopin (1) chris child (1) christine and the queens (1) chuck prophet (1) climax blues band (1) cosmic jokers (1) crowded house (1) d'angelo (1) daft punk (1) david goodrich (1) davy graham (1) dexy's midnight runners (1) dolly collins (1) donald fagen (1) dreadzone (1) dub pistols (1) eagles (1) echo and the bunnymen (1) eden espinosa (1) eels (1) elbow (1) electric ape (1) emerson lake and palmer (1) erlend oye (1) erukah badu (1) essays (1) euphony in electronics (1) faust (1) feist (1) flaming lips (1) future days (1) gamma (1) gang of four (1) gentle giant (1) goat roper rodeo band (1) godspeed you black emperor (1) gorecki (1) groove armada (1) grover washington jr. (1) gun (1) guru guru (1) hatfield and the north (1) hats off gentlemen it's adequate (1) heron (1) hiss golden messenger (1) hozier (1) human league (1) idles (1) india arie (1) iron and wire (1) isaac hayes (1) james brown (1) james joys (1) jamie t (1) janelle monae (1) jayhawks (1) jean-michel jarre (1) jerry paper (1) jim croce (1) jimi hendrix (1) jjcale (1) john cale (1) john mclaughlin (1) jon hassell (1) jurassic 5 (1) kacey musgraves (1) keith berry (1) kid loco (1) king tubby (1) king's consort (1) kings of leon (1) kirk degiorgio (1) kodomo (1) lenny kravitz (1) lighthouse (1) love supreme (1) luc vanlaere (1) lumineers (1) mark pritchard (1) mark ronson (1) me'shell ndegeocello (1) messiaen (1) metallica (1) micah frank (1) michael hedges (1) michael jackson (1) mike west (1) mitski (1) modest mouse (1) moody blues (1) morte macabre (1) motorhead (1) national health (1) nick drake (1) nusrat fateh ali khan (1) oasis (1) omd (1) orb (1) orquesta reve (1) other lives (1) oval (1) paco pena (1) paladin (1) panda bear (1) pat metheny (1) paulo nutini (1) pentangle (1) pierre bensusan (1) portishead (1) proprio (1) protoje (1) purcell (1) pussy riot (1) queen (1) rainbow (1) ramsay midwood (1) rautavaara (1) rem (1) rhythm kings (1) richard strauss (1) robyn (1) roni size (1) ryuichi sakamoto (1) sada sat kaur (1) saga (1) sam jordan (1) sammy hagar (1) santana (1) scaramanga silk (1) shakti (1) shirley collins (1) shostakovich (1) snafu (1) snatam kaur (1) sparks (1) st germain (1) stanford (1) steeleye span (1) stereolab (1) steve reich (1) styx (1) supertramp (1) susumo yokota (1) t bone walker (1) terry riley (1) the band (1) the clash (1) the jayhawks (1) the streets (1) the wreks (1) tricky (1) tycho (1) uriah heep (1) velvet underground (1) venetian snares (1) vladislav delay (1) whiskeytown (1) whitesnake (1) william ackerman (1) yngwie j malmsteen (1) zhou yu (1) μ-Ziq (1)