Boomkat – new TINDERSTICKS, ZWISCHENWELT, EZEKIEL HONIG, etc.

**Lavish box set collecting Tindersticks’ bespoke film scores – a whopping 75 tracks clocking in at over 3 hours!***. Ever since a chance meeting in Paris many moons ago, Nottingham’s preeminent misanth-romantics Tindersticks had been providing subtly breathtaking instrumental scores for acclaimed French director Claire Denis. Now compiled by Constellation in highly collectible 5xLP and 5xCD box sets, these six feature-length soundtracks will obviously appeal to committed fans of the band, but really deserve to find a wide audience far beyond that. Like the films they were made for – 35 Rhums, L’Intrus, Vendredi Soir, Trouble Every Day, White Material and Nenette Et Boni – the band’s, haunting and evocative pieces are all about the accumulation of detail, and build slowly but surely to devastating emotional climaxes. Denis is preoccupied with landscape and the individual’s place within it, and Tindersticks respond with treatments that expertly navigate the intimate and the expansive: the default setting is somewhere between smoked-out brush-stroke Jazz, pastoral folk and modern classical, with shades of the most austere 90s Americana and post-rock, with guitar, harmonium and chamber strings prominent throughout. For us it’s the soaring, drum-driven material from Denis’s most recent picture, White Material, that hits hardest, but really it’s all fantastic stuff, and rewards deep immersion. The package couldn’t be more handsome either: both CD and vinyl come in foil-embossed boxes with 64-page booklet featuring colour film stills and an essay by Michael Hill. Fans of Vincent Gallo’s Warp stuff, Pram, Cave & Ellis, Nico, Palace and Neil Young’s Dead Man should all take notice. A massive recommendation.

Zwischenwelt is the paranormal audio/visual concern of Susana Correira, Beta Evers and Penélope Martin alongside esteemed ex-Drexciya producer, Henirich Mueller (Dopplereffekt/Arpanet/ Der Zyklus). Their name translates as “world in between” and relates to the theme of parapsychology – the exploration of paranormal psychic phenomena using scientific methodology – which informs ‘Paranormale Aktivitat’. Thankfully, and expectedly, their spectra hallucinations are more Konstantin Raudive than Yvette Fielding, but probably most similar in style and sound to Mueller’s almost indivisible Black Replica and Zerkalo projects of the last few years, which were coincidentally coordinated with a strong female presence. Also like those projects, songs are sung by carefully enunciated female voices, delivered in deadpan but chillingly melodic tone, reflecting the glassy synthetic strings and sleek black silicon surfaces of their rhythmic engines. We might be wrong, but from the sounds of it Mueller is responsible for the majority of the music, but it’s really the conceptual undertones and ritualistic, suggestively cinematic lyrics and narrative arc which make this the best Gerald Donald album since ‘Calabi Yau Space’, at least. Highly recommended.

*Strictly limited pressing, initial copies on clear blue vinyl* Manhattan’s Ezekiel Honig makes a welcome appearance on Type with the beautifully melancholy ‘Folding In On Itself’. The frayed, spectral layers of ambient sound and dusty pulses within recall the works of jan Jelinek, The Remote Viewer or even elements of the first MvO Trio LP, but his serene, almost sorrowful palette of tones comes from somewhere more private and personal. While those artists are all defined by a sense of intimacy in wide open space, Ezekiel’s location in one of the most densely populated areas on the planet perhaps gives it a more introverted insularity, as though he’s cosily enveloped by his memories while the world scurries about on the outside. Those memories and their corruption or decay are at the core of this record, like the overlaid family photos on the sleeve, capturing a sense of entropy in his quickly disintegrating city. Locally made field recordings are placed as rhythmic and textural clues to the shape of his environment, and when they happen to fall in sync with his instrumentation the effect is lush, creating and effortless illusion of everyday aleatory syncopation. This beautifully measured sense of drifting, stigmergic arrangement with programmed elements makes for a captivating narrative as varied as a walk through the city itself, but subtly enhanced like some sort of moody augmented reality app or wandering blindfolded through some vivid sound art installation. If anything, it’s as softly spoken and moving as anything Type have put out to date, so handle with care.

**Essential one-stop anthology of hard-to-find material by Emeralds’ guitarist Mark McGuire – housed in a deluxe triple-panel gatefold digipak** Since releasing their ‘Does It Look Like I’m Here’ LP last year, Vienna’s Editions Mego has become a home away from home for Ohio space cadets Emeralds, with the band’s synth wizard John Elliott operating the Spectrum Spools sub-label and guitarist Mark McGuire cutting the the solo album ‘Living With Yourself’ for the main imprint. The latest bit of Emeralds-related gear to land on eMego is A Young Person’s Guide to Mark McGuire, an exhaustive 2xCD compilation of solo tracks from the prodigious axe-wielder’s back catalogue. It’s essentially a “best of”, selected by the man himself and Mego boss Peter Rehberg, bringing together 20 tracks from disparate CD-R and cassettes released in highly limited limited editions (a mere 60 copies in one case). At the tender age of 24, McGuire has created a body of work that would put most artists twice his age to shame, and its breadth and quality is beautifully showcased across A Young Person’s Guide. If you’ve ever listened to Emeralds then you’ll recognise McGuire’s guitar style instantly – mellifluous, cyclical phrases endlessly looped and delayed, frequently conjuring the kosmische grooves of Manuel Gottsching (especially on ‘The Marfa Lights’) and the tender, echoplexed sketches of The Durutti Column. You might think that McGuire’s playing feels a little slight and naked without the synthesizer accompaniments of his Emeralds compadres, but this couldn’t be further for the truth: his solo sound is muscular and expressive, satisfying the demands of psychedelia while also demonstrating a deep lyricism – this is music as emotionally resonant as it is disorientingly trippy. The overdriven squall of ‘Clague Woods’ summons Kevin Shields and early Cocteau Twins, while ‘Stranger Than Paradise’ makes us think of John Martyn’s Inside Out, and ‘Radio Flyer’ crackles and crinkles with the avant-folksy, autumnal beauty of Jim O’Rourke’s Bad Timing. For the most part McGuire’s music is gentle and comforting, but there are some terrific moments of violence and unease: the sound of a distant opera singer ‘Ghosts Around A Tree 1’, looped into delirium, or the ominous near-techno pulsation of ‘The Lonesome Foghorn Blows’. Even when at his most conventional, McGuire is enthralling: ‘Icy Windows’ feels like a Pavement or Sebadoh instrumental in dub, ‘Sick Chemistry is one-note drone made freshly intoxicating (like ‘Skies’, it also puts us in mind of Fennesz’s Black Sea), and the fabulous, rolling ‘The Invisible World’ sounds like a lost JJ Cale jam – it’s proper rock ‘n roll, McGuire-style. If anything, there are a few too many tracks on A Young Person’s Guide but we can hardly fault Mego for being generous; across the album’s hefty duration McGuire makes us realise anew what a unique, versatile and frankly irreplaceable instrument the guitar is, and there’s no higher praise than that. Huge recommendation.

*Limited vinyl pressing – 500 copies for the world* Attillio Mineo was commissioned with composing ‘Man In Space With Sounds’ for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. The album was played in a clear plastic spherical elevator called the ‘Bubbleator’ for up to 150 people at a time and sold to the passengers as something of a novelty item. Nowadays original copies fetch over $100, but thanks to Subliminal Sounds’ Jack Diamond and Stefan Kery we’ve got this ace reissue. Considering this was made in a pre-Moog 1962, Mineo would have been using some very early electronics, but it’s probably fair to say that it’s not quite on the same level as Edgard Varese’s ‘Poeme Electronique’, made for the Brussels Expo only a few years earlier in 1958. The electronic element really takes second place to more conventional string arrangements, but still makes some hugely endearing appearances as on ‘ Century 21’ and ‘Boeing Spacearium’, and now also includes edited versions omitting the American voice over intros, but if you’re a wikky wikky scratch DJ with sample deficit disorder, you might find these appealing. A super intriguing curio and another slice of important early electronics from Subliminal. Highly Recommended.

If you missed out on Sandwell District’s ‘Feed Forward’ 2LP (currently going for £100+ 2nd hand!), it’s time to rejoice: they’ve just reissued a CD version (of sorts) featuring alternate edits from the vinyl. There’s no tracklisting or even a name printed anywhere on the sleeve or the CD, save for a tiny FFCD01 catalogue number, but we can tell you that there are 10 tracks. Basically, it’s as close as you’ll actually get to the originals if you don’t already own them, and downright essential if you don’t. So, this marks the end of Phase 2 in SD’s oeuvre, and with the recently announced Bob Osterlag LP incoming, we’re very much anticipating Phase 3! ESSENTIAL.

‘What Have We Learned’ is one of the most anticipated LPs from the deep Techno quadrant this year. Rabih Beani’s debut album arrives five years after those first head-turning releases on his Venice-based Morphine Records as Morphosis (also, later as Ra.H), and although he’s only released about 1 or 2 records per year since, he’s become a standard bearer for the esoteric and rarified tradition of analogue cosmic techno. His music is suffused with a sophisticated mediterranean melancholy, likely coming from his Lebanese heritage and current Italian locale, and connecting with an experimental electronic and Afro-futuristic continuum reaching from Marinetti and the original Italian futurists to Danielle Baldelli, or across the cosmos to Sun Ra and Hieroglyphic Being. With impeccably classic yet up-to-date production values the album travels between the tentatively jazzy House abstraction of ‘Silent Screamer’ to the Horror soundtrack jack of ‘Too Far’ featuring unheimlich female vocals, and the instinctively moody wanderings of ‘Androids among Us’. Further out, ‘Gate Of Night’ feels like a half-remembered cut from his amazing ‘Time’ 12″ as Ra.H, all possessed Afro-rhythms and heavy-lidded, yawning space synths. In the closing stages the dramatic ‘Dirty Matter’ (previously remixed by NWAQ) carries us like some ancient tribalist ritual to the dazzling, KFW-like modular chaos of ‘Ascension’ and the spine-tingling, instinctive calculations of ‘Europa’ and its breathtaking conclusion. Ultimately, there’s an sci-fi sense of narrative and an unavoidably evocative spirit to this album which should engage the very deepest House and Techno fiends. Massively recommended.

The curious and ever-intriguing Gallic duo Natural Snow Buildings have gifted us with yet another sublime full length with which to entertain our mind’s eye. This isn’t just material gleaned from their no-doubt bottomless pit of jams either, the material for ‘Chants of Niflheim’ was recorded practically weeks ago, so stands as a proper follow-up to the widely acclaimed Blackest Rainbow LP ‘Waves of the Random Sea’. It’s damned good too, showcasing their now patented fuzzy shoegazing ragas in all their extended, gritty glory. There’s a reason that in a scene dominated by groups coughing out extended drones Natural Snow Buildings shine – they’re just a little more unusual. It’s that opium-induced numbness that somehow works in tandem with the current crop of witch house/drag releases – Natural Snow Buildings might not sound the same at first, but the mood is simply unmistakable. Like a fistful of NyQuil, ‘Chants of Niflheim’ will do just the job when you need something to edge you into a lucid heavy-lidded state of bliss. Highly recommended.

*Limited to 500 copies* Properly whacked-out chopped ‘n screwed weirdness from the depths of San Fernando Valley – a must for fans of Hype Williams, Dro Carey or Niggas With Guitars! ** From the off you’re fully sunken into SFV’s stoned vibe, a mega-mellow zone-out where red-eyed machine rhythms can be barely arsed to keep up with syrup-drizzled keys and melting 303 squirms. It’s the work of one Zane Reynolds, who’s previously dropped a couple of super-limited CDr’s and a cassette all brewed with the same kinda just-eaten-a-block-of-hash-need-to-sit-down vibe. There’s a couple of real moment in here, not least the flashes of sluggish Drexciyan soul synth and acid twerks on ‘Sylmar Cement’, or the struggling-to-stay-upright ‘818 (Beat)’, and especially the lop-sided squelch of ‘(SThPss)’. Factor in some wickedly scrawled artwork and you’ve got a highly recommended purchase!

Blackest Ever Black made an indelible mark on 2010 with a couplet of stunning releases from Raime. This year they open their leathery wings to shelter Tropic Of Cancer aka Camella Lobo and Juan Mendez (Silent Servant) for a midnight mission away from their spiritual home, Regis’ Downwards sect. No doubt, this is their strongest material to date: three passionately gothic odes to the romance of misery. There are clear, strong references to the gothic digital minimalism of Martin Hannet’s work on Joy Division, and maybe more apt allusions to the skinny Post Punk of Savage Republic, and Faith/Pornography/Seventeen Seconds era The Cure, but unlike many contemporary guardians of this sound, TOC’s misanthropy is articulated with exquisite production values closer to those of Grouper or Broadcast, making their introversion that much more tangible and heart-breakingly glorious. Of these three songs, ‘Dive (Wheel Of The Law)’ is the most affecting; Lobo’s lamenting vocals sigh for your sins while a malnourished drum machine paces echoic alley space like a Kafka character tortuously trapped in his misanthropy, plangent guitars precipitate a cold grey drizzle. This is severely dank, uncompromising material, and therein lies its beauty. If you’re on that wavelength, this will probably be one of the most precious 12″s you’ll encounter this year.

Troddin’ on from his amazing ‘New Age Outlaw’ sessions of the last 12 months, Dylan Ettinger offers a headful of smoked-out Psyche-Dub for everyones favourite label – Not Not Fun. ‘Lion Of Judah skulks out on dub-sodden synth-blues riffs joined by Drekka’s lone melodica, like Carpenter soundtracking a Sci-fi odyssey set between Kingston and Houston in the not too distant future. The almost sneering, weird vocals and childish melody of ‘Baptism’ further muddle the timeline, like some No Wave synth experiment made to be played at an echo chamber ritual in 2030 but intercepted by the NNF guys with their illegal time scoop, irrevocably altering the present and the future with its cryptic message. *Black vinyl big-hole 45 RPM 7 inch in stark silkscreened recycled sleeves with minimalist faux-Factory design/lettering by Manda Brown, plus a photocopied insert. Edition of 360.*

Five straight aces from Dubbel Dutch on a limited white for NYC’s Dutty Artz crew. This is some seriously covetable club gear, giving sparse-but-deadly re-licks of vocals from R Kelly, Ciara and Deb Cox in proper, underground, white label tradition – unlike an invisible mp3 this is sh*t “…you can melt, scratch, break or lose when you move”! For us, they’re also the best tracks we’ve heard by Dubbel Dutch, an artist already ranked and tipped by the likes of Untold, Jamie XX, Nguzunguzu, and Sinden, to name a few. Nuff said. This is ESSENTIAL for fans of Kingdom or Jam City!!!!!!!!!!

Addison Groove’s ‘Almost Headhunter’ remix of ‘UFO’ arranges his palette of pressurised 808 drums into a powerful 132bpm Techno groove, but manages to retain the dynamic essence of the killer original with tidy fake-out edits for the dancers. Breach’s mix of ‘Rings Around Saturn’ replaces the track in a 2011 deepside Funky context, keeping the groove sparse but with luscious subbass warmth and a very tidy hook. ACE.

Purest JA/UK HEAT finally landing on wax!!! ‘Showa Eski’ is the result of Wiley’s trip to Jamaica in 2010, when Dancehall producer Prodigal rebuilt one of his finest moments with an island pop twyst. Remixes come from Mickey Pearce aka Shortstuff, splitting the sound into gloopy bass and spurting drums, and unstoppable younger Royal T on a piano-heavy and road-ready energy mix. Prodigy’s original instrumental also included. Unmissable!!!!

From deepest Mississippi Dead Gaze send a tenderly crafted side of grungy DIY pop. A-side ‘Somewhere Else’ is the most substantial, a mottled hypnogogic ballad with traces of Ariel Pink’s dilapidated ’80s FM synths and a ghostly falsetto swirling about tape mired guitar jangle. The other side is more intriguing, figuring a murky collage of vocal glossolalia and tumbled pseudo-ethnic rhythms in some kinda 4th world ambient space, while the flanged vocals and yearning lo-fi ecstasy of ‘Fishing With Robert’ reminds of Gary War or The Beets off of Captured Tracks. Lovely collage sleeve and free download code redeemable form the label, too!

**White vinyl with printed 10″ insert and individually numbered sleeve** Another genuinely outstanding 10″ from Downwards, introducing Houston’s Pink Playground to their ranks. After a super limited 7″ for Zoo Music and ahead of a debut LP for Mexican Summer, they give two tracks of classic referencing and utterly spellbinding shoegaze. A-side ‘Ten’ has a beautiful balance of repressed aggression seething up from the compressed but possessed drums but the foreground and misty middle distance are smudged with wordless, wraithlike vocals and blistering guitars medicated to dizzying effect. B-side ‘Come Find Me’ shares that beautiful sense of melodic cacophony but eased up slightly into a swaying, eyes-rolling-back-the-head sort of delirium, the feeling accentuated with looming MBV style compressions leading to the final passage of levitating, blissed-out jangle. Recommended!