[Text] Muttley - Stories Of Solace In Miniature Episode 1

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For more information on the tracks and artists in "Sink Or Swim", see my relay of posts below:

Fennesz - Black Sea

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boomkat Wrote:At last, the wait is over. Christian Fennesz's follow up to 2004's Venice is upon us, and it's truly one of the most breathtaking albums you'll hear this year. The ten-minute title track gets the album underway, opening tentatively with flickers of noise and digital debris crackling like fireworks in the distance. Soon a flood of symphonic guitar and electronics overwhelms the mix and we're reintroduced to the signature sound world that's unique to this man's music - he's one of the most imitated electronic artists out there, and yet you can always pick out the real thing from a line-up of clones. Not resting on his laurels, before 'Black Sea' is even three minutes in, the magnitude shrinks down to a simple duet between oscillating tones and brittle acoustic guitar plucks.

It's from here that the piece begins to swell up with majestic, incredibly warm sustains and scratchy textural details - the whole composition feels like a reintroduction to the various facets of the Fennesz sound. Next comes the first of two collaborative pieces (although it should be pointed out that this one isn't available on the vinyl edition - and while we're on the subject, nor is the ambient miniature 'Vacuum' encountered towards the end of the CD and digital tracklists): 'The Colour Of Three' features Anthony Pateras (a veteran of Editions Mego and Sirr), who supplies some nicely clanking prepared piano tones, placing emphasis on the instrument as a percussive device rather than a string instrument. Despite this augmented instrumental range we're still in familiar territory thanks to Fennesz's transcendent digital eruptions and gloriously rich sound designs.

'Perfume For Winter' is a more restrained affair, filled with contemplative acoustic figures and abrupt organ-driven chord changes. We get our first real taste of explicit melody here, reminiscent of Endless Summer's most approachable tracks. Importantly though, there are no overt attempts to retrace footsteps back to that classic album, and Black Sea sounds vehemently like a step forwards for Fennesz. This sense of progression is underlined by the spine-tinglingly wonderful 'Glide', a duet with Rosy Parlane which takes Fennesz's wall of sound into the stratosphere, sounding like an unearthly orchestra. The music itself matches the increased magnitude: if Endless Summer was a digitisation and abstraction of The Beach Boys, 'Glide' could be said to apply the same transformative techniques to more classically-geared sounds - there's an undercurrent of elegiac romanticism that might reasonably be compared to fellow notable Austrian, Gustav Mahler, specifically the well-known fourth movement of his 5th Symphony (once famously plundered by Robert Lippok for his Open/Close/Open release on Raster Noton). After the quietly glistening, chime-like tones of 'Glass Ceiling' comes previous single and album finale 'Saffron Revolution', which is a suitably grand closing gesture, stretching out a single, euphoric multi-layered chord across much of its duration before dissipating away into a pattern of delayed string plucks.

Black Sea is far and away one of the year's most beautiful records, both in terms of the music itself and the sheer iridescence of the electronic sound harnessed within. Very highly recommended indeed.

Related links

CD: Purchase

Saffron Revolution: Sampler

Fennesz: Official website
Vic Chesnutt - North Star Deserter

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boomkat Wrote:'North Star Deserter' is a stunning record, at all times folk, blues and old time rock music but simultaneously daringly contemporary and in being so is the best thing we've heard from Constellation in quite some time. Quite a stunning album - Huge Recommendation.

Purchase: CD

Empires Of Tin starring Vic Chesnutt

Vic Chesnutt: MySpace
aye up Muttley

i've just read this and am obviously now compelled to listen Xyxthumbs got to agree with Hiddensound and respect your outlook on this condition. It seems trivial in comparison to the shit you've experienced, but i went through a period of suffering from extreme anxiety a few years ago. Panic attacks were relentless (and still occasionally, but thankfully very rarely, flare up every now and then). It resulted in time off work etc, and i can't stress enough how difficult that point was to get through for me

Also - and it's not something i, or any of my family share with many (except the entire internet, in this case Hahaha) - my mum was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia back in the mid/late 80's, which hopefully will remain the worst point of my life - to be honest i don't even want to go into that shit Hahaha She is really well now, but remains on medication for life to combat any recurring symptoms.

but anyway - these are two reasons why i massively respect your decision and honesty to do/post this, and hopefully it will in some form, keep people's minds open about conditions like this which are all too often misunderstood, or jokingly brushed aside.

much love, and looking forward to listening, from maff Smile
Marked for further listening/reading. Hats off to you sir. Applause
Hovver Wrote:aye up Muttley

i've just read this and am obviously now compelled to listen Xyxthumbs got to agree with Hiddensound and respect your outlook on this condition. It seems trivial in comparison to the shit you've experienced, but i went through a period of suffering from extreme anxiety a few years ago. Panic attacks were relentless (and still occasionally, but thankfully very rarely, flare up every now and then). It resulted in time off work etc, and i can't stress enough how difficult that point was to get through for me

Sorry to hear of your hardship, Hovver. I would have lost my job if I was in a different position (I work as a tradesman with my father). The paranoia skyrocketed when I thought my computer had been hacked. Card purchase archives had a (Remove) * 5 supplanted next to titles specific to suspension (e.g "In The Pendulum's Embrace" by Oren Ambarchi), as well as there being pasted text that I don't remember writing, but came from very relevant sources from the past (the two webzine projects I've completed).

Hovver Wrote:Also - and it's not something i, or any of my family share with many (except the entire internet, in this case Hahaha) - my mum was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia back in the mid/late 80's, which hopefully will remain the worst point of my life - to be honest i don't even want to go into that shit Hahaha She is really well now, but remains on medication for life to combat any recurring symptoms.

Good to hear she found a solution. The psychosis was a fresh undertaking for my parents, who dealt with it carefully and concisely, to the degree (as written) that I was barred from internet and phone use to start with. They helped me to get benefits for my illness, and have generally been ace regarding reminders (taking my medication) and getting back to work. I'm hopeful that I can return to normality in due course; though it's an uphill struggle, it can only get easier once the symptoms fade from sight.

On the "up" note, I received treatment from two occupational therapists a few months back. Their touchstone was "Bridge Building" - exploring possibilities for expansion on my everyday activities. I still have access to write to them.

My Early Intervention carers I see each week, whereby we meet at a local cafe to discuss progress psychologically. It's productive: though I forget a good deal of each visit, it's always nice to be told how you're doing in the eyes of professionals. Like social workers, they interact casually, even arranging special days out (bowling) and fortnightly intervals (coffee mornings).

I can't say where I'd be without their help. As well as offering links to MIND (a mental health charity that operates at specific-to-town centres, and has put on benefit gigs in Oxford), I've enrolled at a place called Bridewell Gardens, which constitutes "a welcoming and friendly space for people experiencing mental health issues to come and engage in therapeutic activities in a peaceful rural setting". I'd like to make an instalment for the inspiration and good attitudes I've foreseen there.

Hovver Wrote:but anyway - these are two reasons why i massively respect your decision and honesty to do/post this, and hopefully it will in some form, keep people's minds open about conditions like this which are all too often misunderstood, or jokingly brushed aside.

much love, and looking forward to listening, from maff Smile

Much love for reaching out with your post. I'd love to know what you think Smile

With that said, "Stories Of Solace In Miniature Episode 2" is now available. Feedback of any kind is relished. The link:

http://www.subvertcentral.com/forum/show...hp?t=47762

Wave
Zelienople - Pajama Avenue


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boomkat Wrote:Although Zelienople might now be best known for their basement psychedelic jams, all crunching guitars and floorboard-rockin' free drumming, they actually started as something slightly different altogether. 'Pajama Avenue' was the band's first album and originally surfaced back in 2002, and showed the band to have much more of a leaning towards 'Spirit of Eden'-era Talk Talk, Bark Psychosis and early Verve (when they were good). This is no bad thing in my book, and the album stands as not only a reminder where the band came from but also as a stunning piece of work in its own right containing enough classic Zelienople moments to surely win over fans who have only recently discovered them.

Purchase: CD release

Download: Mp3 release
NVious Wrote:Marked for further listening/reading. Hats off to you sir. Applause

Big ups for checking this out, NVious Xyxthumbs
Leafcutter John - The Forest And The Sea

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boomkat Wrote:Now this is a nice surprise - no sooner has he has left Planet-Mu and everyone's favourite abstract glitch-merchant is back with a folk concept album?! Yes you heard me right, 'The Forest and the Sea' is a concept album, and the story is as weird and as beardy as you'd expect from any mid 70's prog record. "The forest and the sea tells the story of two people who become lost in a forest. As they try to find a way out, the sky darkens. By nightfall, they have strayed so deep that they have no choice but to spend the night with the forest and its inhabitants. When the morning finally comes our couple wake on a cliff top between the forest and the sea, and rather than go back through the forest they decide to take to the sea." It all sounds a little Grimm does it not? All we're missing is a Gingerbread man and maybe a witch... but never mind about that.. I'm pleased to say that this album really is quite stunningly good, half of the tracks take a lightly strummed folksy approach with brash vocals from Leo Chadburn (aka Simon Bookish) and the other half veer towards John's more tried and tested digital take on musique concrete. Such musical opposites rarely fit together but the mix works absolutely perfectly, each track blending magically into the next - and the dreamlike story it conjures up aptly represents the album's overlying concept. With this full length Leafcutter John has fully realised his potential as a musician, taking in his influence from being a full time member of contemporary jazz act Polar Bear and his collection of unusual instruments, he has forged an album that is unique and inventive - let's hope there's a lot more where that came from. Highly recommended.

Purchase: Mp3 release

Leafcutter John: cycling '74 interview

Leafcutter John: MySpace
good record Xyxthumbs
Just read this again... very interesting and moving text/mixset. You're very brave to publish that in such detail, even if it's just anonymously on an internet forum. I hope you never have to go through something like this again.
What strikes me most is how very tiny details of the surrounding environment can have such a huge effect. From things like the D chord strummed on a guitar, "Pink Lady" apples to the distance of a drill - things that sometimes would trigger a memory or association and sometimes wouldn't even be consciously registered by a "normal" person, but are treated with so much weight that they severely affect the way you feel. In art this is a sort of desired effect, where the elements of a piece relate to each other and the viewer/listener/reader/etc. in a way that they create a strong connection and elevate the piece above just being a sound/image/whatever.
littleNemo Wrote:Just read this again... very interesting and moving text/mixset.

Many thanks for listening littleNemo. "Bridget Riley" has to be up there with the most moving pieces of music I've ever heard.

littlenemo Wrote:You're very brave to publish that in such detail, even if it's just anonymously on an internet forum. I hope you never have to go through something like this again.

For the sake of my family's sanity, I indeed hope so too. To be spontaneous I have to have security, and that has impacted on these writeups by simple wishes to get it "out of the system." I thank you for your counsel. Smile

littlenemo Wrote:What strikes me most is how very tiny details of the surrounding environment can have such a huge effect. From things like the D chord strummed on a guitar, "Pink Lady" apples to the distance of a drill - things that sometimes would trigger a memory or association and sometimes wouldn't even be consciously registered by a "normal" person, but are treated with so much weight that they severely affect the way you feel.

It could be hereditary: I remember from school that I was daily distracted by classmates' behaviour. It would be like I was presupposing scenarios that could happen in future - with the food I was eating, or what was going on around me. Different outcomes like having my family conspire against me, because the woman and her friends were over in the UK, or lampooning my progress, like with a view that BBC insiders were scheduling repeats of the Vicar Of Dibley Tv show on purpose. One I watched featured Reginald Dwight [Elton John's real name] who was built up as a star coming to visit Dibley town. The fact he wasn't the real deal would mirror my status of not sending the writeup to her friend who warned me off with expletives. At this stage in developments [June 2008] I was convinced of my delusion, hence the "False beliefs" section is covered in the mix by piano progressing into the strings, and vocals of The Cinematic Orchestra and Lou Rhodes.

littleNemo Wrote:In art this is a sort of desired effect, where the elements of a piece relate to each other and the viewer/listener/reader/etc. in a way that they create a strong connection and elevate the piece above just being a sound/image/whatever.

I'm glad you found this moving; it's taken a lot of soul to write in such depth. The emphasis on language in memory comes from Whitehouse. Bennet gives the message nicely. From The Wire 282:

Bennet from Whitehouse Wrote:"I spent a long time looking at ways to use language in order to get these results and studying meta-language, where it's a language above a language.

For instance, we have the language we use to communicate with each other, like we're doing now," he elaborates. "Well, meta-language is ostensibly the same language but has been manipulated or designed to achieve things that wouldn't be achievable through normal language. So you do things like you deliberately modify conventions of English grammar because within the conventions of the language you wouldn't be able to express things in real time. People often write and say 'Oh, there's a typo in your lyrics.' There are no typos. It's all incredibly carefully placed so that there's not even a comma out of place. If something seems to be wrong, it's an example of meta-language. Most of the time we use these techniques in invisible ways, so that the first time you won't notice anything particularly different about them, but there are a whole raft of techniques that are being used to take this person to another place. It's unsettling in that way. In one way it overloads the conscious mind to such an extent that it just can't cope with it anymore. And so you have to rely on your unconscious to process that. And once you have access to the unconscious, that's where you can start affecting a oerson on a deep level."
Machinefabriek - Weeler

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boomkat Wrote:'Weleer' is Dutch for 'at a previous time' (at least it is according to a very helpful online dictionary I found) and this gigantic double disc set is exactly that. Most of you are probably aware by now of Rutger Zutdervelt - the prolific producer came to light last year with the release of the frankly awesome 'Marijn' album (also on Lampse), and before long we twigged that he wasn't a one-album kinda guy, far from it - he was writing practically an album a month! Across over forty 3 cds which he has released over the last three years he has amassed hour upon hour of music, and what's more he's managed to keep a consistent level of quality which makes us all wonder how the hell he does it . But let's be honest now, with that many super-limited releases there's very little chance that any of us are going to be able to collect all of them, so Lampse in their infinite kindness have painstakingly put together this informed retrospective of the mans work, a sort of potted history of the very best of Machinefabriek.

Where 'Marijn' was almost a continuous work from beginning to end, realised very carefully and constructed in a very short time, 'Weleer' takes tracks spanning right across two years of production, and while for most artists that might not be a long time, for Zuydervelt it might as well be four decades. What amazes me about this collection is how perfectly constructed it is, it moves haphazardly between styles and forms, but it feels like these tracks were always supposed to fit together in this sequence, and rather than appearing like there are missing segments it feels like you are gaining an understanding of Zuyderwelt's work by listening to the music in this way. The scope is obviously a great deal wider than 'Marijn'; here we see the work of Machinefabriek on a truly wide playing field - he experiments with blissful ambience, field recording, grinding Merzbow-esque analogue noise, gorgeous guitar drone and simple, playful melodic motifs - yet at no point does it ever feel like he is out of his depth. This is one of those rare albums where you can truly hear the hand of a master at work, and while we are still basically at the beginning of a young producer's career, 'Weleer' stands as proof that he is almost guaranteed a place in electronic and experimental music history.

The knowledge he has of 'where things go', his sense of timing and placement just astounds me, nothing seems misplaced, nothing seems overdone or for that matter underdone, each track bubbles, and effervesces beauty, tension and life. Simply put, 'Weleer' is both an incredible starting point for those of you as yet unfamiliar with the work of Machinefabriek, and an indispensable collection for signed up fans - there's just so much to sink your teeth into here it is almost impossible to go into any more detail. Highly Recommended.

Purchase: Mp3 release

Machinefabriek: Official website

Machinefabriek: MySpace
Machinefabriek is playing in Nottingham next Wednesday Smile
Statto Wrote:Machinefabriek is playing in Nottingham next Wednesday Smile

Sounds grand Icon_yippee

Are you going?
I am planning so to do Smiley
just got back
he made small sounds with a miked up zither and stuff

Grin
Statto Wrote:just got back
he made small sounds with a miked up zither and stuff

Grin

Cool Statto; good to hear you enjoyed yourself. Grin


The Cinematic Orchestra - Ma Fleur

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Quote:Originally posted by Denise Sheppard

Cinematic Orchestra's fourth studio album, Ma Fleur soars from start to finish. The disc opens with the all-too-brief "That Home" which showcases a new guest vocalist brought into the Orchestra clan, Montreal native Patrick Watson whose Coldplay-meets-Jeff-Buckley fragility fits inside the folds of the sparse melody perfectly; his contribution to the sweeping soundscape of closer "To Build a Home" proves equally spectacular, adding an increased vulnerability and richness to the music. "Time and Space," featuring enigmatic Lamb frontwoman Lou Rhodes, offers the perfect combination of vocal ache with the lushness of cello and violin, eventually expanding into a full contemporary-classical-meets-downtempo vibe. Former contributing vocalist Fontella Bass once again brings her timeless soul to the mix ("Breathe" and "Familiar Ground") which will delight longtime fans of the U.K. band. Fans of Cinematic Orchestra's more upbeat hip-hop and jazz numbers from previous releases will discover that there is nothing especially uptempo on this disc; in certain respects, the evenness of Zero 7 discs may provide a more apt comparison, contextually. While that may frustrate some, the power of Ma Fleur from beginning to end is a holistic package of sensuality and softness that makes for a nearly perfect, perfectly timeless release.

Purchase: CD

Download: The Cinematic Orchestra on eMusic

The Cinematic Orchestra: MySpace
Ateleia - Formal Sleep

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boomkat Wrote:On the closing piece 'Bridget Riley' Elliott's ideas finally slide together in perfect harmony and he turns in a piece that is a testament to his vision. As the gorgeous cascading harmonies reach a satisfying close, you can be safe in the knowledge that beauty is alive and well, no matter what they keep trying to tell us. A breathtaking piece of work - a massive recommendation.

Purchase: CD

Ateleia: MySpace

View: Smalllfish
Bump for Sharrie Smile
I started to feel severe symptoms of anxiety coming on tonight due to side effects of not handling the medicine for my prescribed treatment of lyme. This compiled with the ongoing symptom of depersonalization/derealization i have been experiencing daily as a result of neuro problems with lyme causes anxiety attacks to become unmanageable completely for me, cementing further the dissociation.
Unfortunately this "dissociation" Ive been going through for months now can be caused by just about anything medically or mentally stressful on the body and is often a symptom of your brain trying to focus on keeping your vitals working properly so it basically dims parts of the brain that aren't vital - such as being fully alert and connected with your surroundings. With added stress of side effects of meds and my circumstances of life, this symptom has been almost impossible to navigate without severe added depression or anxiety, and I struggle to overcome it.

I had remembered you mentioning this mix when my one of my favorite tracks 'time and space' was being discussed in a thread. So i finally got to listen to it tonight... Did the job to take my focus slightly elsewhere yet the overwhelming anxiety in my body did not really cease.. ( allthough i did enjoy the music, nice selection) Xyxthumbs

Yet reading your words(kind of skimming as my brain can bearly focus too well) ...gave the determination and push to do the necessary steps in getting myself to try and do techniques and actions to get out of the symptoms elevating. Eventually i successfully calmed myself enough.
Well pretty sufficiently or i wouldnt be writing this at all. haha Wink

I just wanted to share my experience as it lead me to remembering you mentioning this mix and consequently me reading your words.
Thank you for being so strong to share your experience and taking the time to create this mix, showing others that over coming and transforming suffering is possible.
You're a huge inspiration for me. Kisskiss
I love you Catherine. Hugs

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