Bleeding Edge
Rocking Headphonesex Towers this week has been the simply amazing new Burial album, 'Untrue'.
Although firmly rooted in the shuddering bassbins of dubstep, the album seems more built towards replicating the sounds of a London sunrise - the awakening of nature, distant music drifting past, the crackling of electricity as the city wakes up.... wandering around feeling slightly disconnected from it all whether you're on your way home from the night before, or setting off for your morning paper. There's also emotional washes of electronic chords the match of any classic of electronic or ambient music.
And there are songs. Vocals. But of a ghostly quality. There is no way that someone could perform these without being shrouded in darkness. 'Performing' these tracks just wouldn't seem right. They belong to the breeze.
It's fucking good.
BURIAL - RAVER
Burial seems to transcent 'ordinary' music to such an extent that it's hard to pick tracks to post with it... but we shall try.
Bochum Welt has been releasing beautiful music on Aphex's Rephlex label for many years, and it seems a double CD retrospective is due.
Heralding this has been a limited 10" backed with a mix by one of the legends of electronic music - Heinrich Mueller.
Heinrich has been released music under a multitude of aliases over the years, but should be best known for being one half of the incredible Drexciya (along with the sadly deceased James Stinson); and also for being Dopplereffekt - a group that basically mastered the stripped down & sleazy electro sound. The Gesamtkunstwerk compilation is essential listening.
In this mix, Heinrich seems to have fused some elements of both Dopplereffekt and Drexciya into a spacious but precise electro jam. Not a lot happens, but God the sounds are nice.
Get it from Boomkat.
BOCHUM WELT - SAINT (HEINRICH MUELLER Z VERSION)
DOPPLEREFFEKT - PLASIPHILIA 2
I was in Rough Trade the other day for a book signing, and had my eye caught by a 7" box set called 'Hordes of Canada' - featuring as it does a Crystal Castles track (though not a new one). Much as I love a good 7", a five 7" box set is a bit of an unwieldy format, and frankly i'm not surprised it's not taken off!
It does look very cool indeed though.
So after 10 trips between my chair & the record player, I can report that "The Bleeding Edge of the Canadian Art Rock Scene" is borderline haemophiliac.
OK, well maybe you won't end up with blood all over your face, but there's some damn good tracks on it. Particularly these two.
Montreal's We Are Wolves create a heavy maelstrom of moog & bass, before unleashing all with some life-affirming lupine roars. Punk rock.
WE ARE WOLVES - FIGHT & KISS
Even more brilliant are Duchess Says... who have basically recreated Primal Scream's (incredible) 'Swastika Eyes', but with handclaps, whoop whooping & girls screaming. Hot as magma, but better for your ears.
DUCHESS SAYS - CUT UP
Finally it appears, as correctly pointed by 'Tom' in the comments, that the Chemical Brothers vs Primal Scream bootleg 12" I posted was indeed a bad bootleg version. Of the bootleg. However now I have the correct and original version, as produced by The Chemical Brothers themselves. It's much better, not only due to the production quality, but also due to Denise Johnson once more getting high till the day she dies. I am now having the correct flashbacks!
So for once I can say not to buy the record, but to get jiggy with this MP3 instead. This is probably some kind of world exclusive or something.
THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS vs PRIMAL SCREAM - DON'T FIGHT CONTROL
Although firmly rooted in the shuddering bassbins of dubstep, the album seems more built towards replicating the sounds of a London sunrise - the awakening of nature, distant music drifting past, the crackling of electricity as the city wakes up.... wandering around feeling slightly disconnected from it all whether you're on your way home from the night before, or setting off for your morning paper. There's also emotional washes of electronic chords the match of any classic of electronic or ambient music.
And there are songs. Vocals. But of a ghostly quality. There is no way that someone could perform these without being shrouded in darkness. 'Performing' these tracks just wouldn't seem right. They belong to the breeze.
It's fucking good.
BURIAL - RAVER
Burial seems to transcent 'ordinary' music to such an extent that it's hard to pick tracks to post with it... but we shall try.
Bochum Welt has been releasing beautiful music on Aphex's Rephlex label for many years, and it seems a double CD retrospective is due.
Heralding this has been a limited 10" backed with a mix by one of the legends of electronic music - Heinrich Mueller.
Heinrich has been released music under a multitude of aliases over the years, but should be best known for being one half of the incredible Drexciya (along with the sadly deceased James Stinson); and also for being Dopplereffekt - a group that basically mastered the stripped down & sleazy electro sound. The Gesamtkunstwerk compilation is essential listening.
In this mix, Heinrich seems to have fused some elements of both Dopplereffekt and Drexciya into a spacious but precise electro jam. Not a lot happens, but God the sounds are nice.
Get it from Boomkat.
BOCHUM WELT - SAINT (HEINRICH MUELLER Z VERSION)
DOPPLEREFFEKT - PLASIPHILIA 2
I was in Rough Trade the other day for a book signing, and had my eye caught by a 7" box set called 'Hordes of Canada' - featuring as it does a Crystal Castles track (though not a new one). Much as I love a good 7", a five 7" box set is a bit of an unwieldy format, and frankly i'm not surprised it's not taken off!
It does look very cool indeed though.
So after 10 trips between my chair & the record player, I can report that "The Bleeding Edge of the Canadian Art Rock Scene" is borderline haemophiliac.
OK, well maybe you won't end up with blood all over your face, but there's some damn good tracks on it. Particularly these two.
Montreal's We Are Wolves create a heavy maelstrom of moog & bass, before unleashing all with some life-affirming lupine roars. Punk rock.
WE ARE WOLVES - FIGHT & KISS
Even more brilliant are Duchess Says... who have basically recreated Primal Scream's (incredible) 'Swastika Eyes', but with handclaps, whoop whooping & girls screaming. Hot as magma, but better for your ears.
DUCHESS SAYS - CUT UP
Finally it appears, as correctly pointed by 'Tom' in the comments, that the Chemical Brothers vs Primal Scream bootleg 12" I posted was indeed a bad bootleg version. Of the bootleg. However now I have the correct and original version, as produced by The Chemical Brothers themselves. It's much better, not only due to the production quality, but also due to Denise Johnson once more getting high till the day she dies. I am now having the correct flashbacks!
So for once I can say not to buy the record, but to get jiggy with this MP3 instead. This is probably some kind of world exclusive or something.
THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS vs PRIMAL SCREAM - DON'T FIGHT CONTROL
posted by headphonesex @ 3:03 AM
