Lorenzo Masotto - Aeolian Processes

Dronarivm: 2017

I've bought a few releases from Dronarivm now, but it wasn't with intent to scope the Moscow label out. It just happened that way, me spotting a few eye-catching items, and taking a blind leap of faith that they'd turn out interesting. That they have, so I figured a little stop-over at Dronarivm's Bandcamp couldn't hurt either, see what their full discography looks like. And lo', wouldn't you know it, they had one of those nifty 'bulk CD' deals available too. I sure as shit can't resist one of those, and I may as well spring for the big ol' 10x bundle while I'm at it. Only... there isn't even that many available in one fell swoop, Dronarivm's limited-runs having thus created a stock issue. Ah well, the five-piece it is then, starting with Aeolian Processes from Lornezo Masotto.

Mr. Masotto hails from Italy (shock!), and is more of a classical musician than the drone ambient sort I've often found on Dronarivm. Not that this is some anomaly with the label, as they do offer outlets for modern classical composers. As this blog's a testament towards though, it's not a style of music I typically indulge in, but as the more minimalist strains of the genre can tread into ambient's territory, I'll cross paths with it on occasion. That all being said, I cannot deny it was the cover art that drew me into Aeolian Processes, a windswept tree shorn naked by atmospheric forces a striking image among Dronarivm's usual fare. You'd almost expect it a dark ambient release. All that's missing is an abandoned boat laying at the base of the tree's trunk.

Lorenzo primarily specializes in piano compositions, of which makes up the bulk of the music here as well. Again, I'm no expert on this aspect of modern classical, though I do know this is a wide open field of expertise, several pianists across the globe plying their trade to captivated audiences. Martha Argerich! Vladimir Horowitz! Evgeny Kissin! Sergei Rachmanioff! Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli! Maurizio Pollini! Yuja Wang! Krystian Zimerman! Mikhail Pletnev! Vladimir Ashkenzy! These are all great piano players, because Ranker.com tells me they are. I'm not sure how Lorenzo Masotto stacks against them, but I bet they don't add subtle electronic drones and burbling synths to their compositions.

His electronic treatments provide each track with their own flavor beyond being another lovely piece of melancholy piano music. Space Flowers, When The City Sleeps, and the titular cut have little bloopy arps playing in the background. My Great-Grandmother Lived In The Mountains makes use of pulsing synths playing in reverse. Geyser features blobby burbles bubbling out. Desert and Repeater indulge a little pad drone in support. Drone even features something approaching percussion.

I can't say Aeolian Processes is the most exceptional album of piano music I've ever heard, because I'm hardly well-versed in the genre to give such a definitive statement. For those rather grey days, however, I do find it most pleasant indeed.

Various - Winter

Altar Records: 2017

Boy, was this one a long time coming. Even without my alphabetical stipulation, the fourth edition of Altar Records' Seasons series was quite late. The first one, Spring, was released way back in spring of 2013, over four years ago! Summer came a year later, then Fall in late autumn of 2015. Nothing too out of the ordinary there, having a yearly series with a release date coinciding with its particular thematic season. The whole year of 2016 went by though, with no Winter to be seen. We were assured Winter was coming though, so we waited, and waited, and waited, but still no dragons, just a bunch of floppy wieners- whoops, wrong 'winter'.

Finally, in late February of this year 2017, Winter was released. I guess that technically keeps it within its established schedule, but yeah, compared to the brisk rate of output from Altar Records' first thematic series, this one sure took its sweet time reaching completion. I mean, it's been so long, it's forgotten its original art-style. What happened to the border runes, and the seasonal kaleidoscope stylee? Sure, this cover art is purty as fresh fallen snow, but rather typical of Altar's usual fare. The others had a distinct flair unto themselves.

Whatever. It's always the tracks within that's important and label head DJ Zen still knows how to find 'em, sign 'em, licence 'em, arrange 'em, print 'em, distribute 'em, and- wait, where's the “mix 'em” in all that? What kind of DJ doesn't mix?

Familiar names that return naturally include AstroPilot, his The Wind Through The Keyhole as solid a slice of ethnic-flavoured psy-chill as anything he's ever put out. Long time Altar vets Lab's Cloud gives us a dubbier offering of psy-chill in Alma Zen, while Suduaya's Clear Water opts for a spritely bit of prog-psy (it's almost 'twinkle prog'!). Hm, both these acts have been Altar staples for a while, yet I haven't reviewed anything of theirs. May have to rectify that. Anyhow, the best of the star players is Asura's The Savers, one of the most energetic, gnarliest trance tunes I've heard Mr. Farewell kick out in ages. Holy cow, where has he been hiding this stuff!

A few newer recruits to the Altar family rounds Winter out. Argus gets two track to open the compilation with, The Time Before a pure ambient dub outing while We Are One dips into prog-psy's waters, as does Profondita's Island. At the opposite end, one half of that group, Eyal Markovich, remixes No Gravity from Unusual Cosmic Process into a throwback prog-psy outing - compared to the typically languid pace Altar loves promoting, it's 'uptempo prog-psy'!

Eh, you've noticed something lacking in these detailings? Yeah, cannot deny the 'winter' theme is rather absent in these tunes. For sure they're all great cuts, but they don't make me feel like I'm frolicking in frosty meadows or snow-capped forests. Maybe dark ambient truly is the best winter music out there.

Gorillaz - Humanz (Proper Review)

Parlaphone: 2017

I wonder what comes first when Albarn and Hewlett reconvene for another Gorillaz saga: the music, or the concept. Like, I imagine ol' Damon would have a few demos kicking around, and ol' Jamie would have a few sketches laying about, but what's the process coming up with all the intriguing backstory for their multi-media creation. I mentioned in the Kayfabe Review of Humanz that Russel Hobbs, the Gorillaz drummer with a myriad of urban American influences and North Korean incarceration, was a dominating force in how the album turned out, but was that just the story Albarn and Hewlett concocted after the fact, or did they adapt the music to serve the narrative?

Another example: there's not much of 2-D/Albarn's singing voice on Humanz. That's because the Gorillaz cartoon front-man was lost on a Mexican beach, subsisting on rotting whale meat and coarse sand (it gets everywhere). Luckily, he eventually found his way back to the studio to offer his vocal talents, but in his absence, guest vocalists Murdoc and Russel rounded up (re: Albarn connected with) took over most of the singing duties. Was 2-D's story planned this way, or made up on the fly when Damon realized his voice was taking more of a backseat on Humanz. It's a fascinating conundrum, the Gorillaz process.

Much has been said about the musical drift from 'mutant pop' of older Gorillaz albums, instead going for more of a funk, house, and soul fusion. Can't deny it was a little off-putting for yours truly, having repeatedly consumed their previous works rather voraciously in anticipation of this one. Then again, when I first heard Plastic Beach, I was initially put off by it as well, sounding very little like Demon Days. And even Demon Days I put off for years, figuring it couldn't possibly match the dubby, erratic fun of the debut album. Yet I've replayed all those albums multiple times now, as I'm sure I will with Humanz. Albarn never gives us the same thing twice with Gorillaz, and while that can be frustrating for those hoping for retreads of Clint Eastwood or DARE or On Melancholy Hill, they clearly aren't paying attention to the project's expectation-dashing intentions.

Fortunately, as I already have an affinity for house beats, and can dig the funk and soul if its got that Motown or Chicago vibe going, I warmed to Humanz quite quickly. Saturnz Barz is just as catchy as any of the band's previous dub-fusion tracks of years past, it's nice hearing Jamie Principle in the slinky electro of Sex Murder Party, and who can resist the uplifting swing of Peven Everett's vocals in house jam Strobelite? Plus ending the album with pure jubilation collaboration of We Got The Power (Jarre! Jehnny! A Gallagher!!), whoo! Ending it with such a musical cliff-hanger does leave one expecting though, but fortunately there's a 2CD version with bonus tracks that carry the party on a little longer. Of course I sprung for it!

Gorillaz - Humanz (Kayfabe Review)

Parlaphone: 2017

This is a band that always flies too close the sun with each release, co-existing just long enough to make great music, then utterly flame out as tensions, strife, demons (figurative and literal), distractions, and ego get in the way. True, it's almost always the fault of Murdoc Niccals, but then again there wouldn't be Gorillaz without his unholy deals vision – I mean, have you ever seen 2-D, Russel, or Noodles put out a proper solo album of their own? They may hate and resent his guts, but they cannot deny Murdoc provides them opportunities too.

But in this case, it seemed that Plastic Beach truly was destined to be their final work. Details are 'sketchy' over what happened at Point Nemo (because, haha, they're literally sketched in the Rhinestone Eyes video, hahaha!), but we finally do know where everyone disappeared to after the Boogieman's assault on the trash island, each involved on their own personal journeys of introspection, self-reflection, emancipation, and incarceration. This last one is most important, for we probably wouldn't have this Gorillaz album without it.

Murdoc could outrun pirates, gun-runners, and devils no problem, but one entity he could never escape is the record label, specifically EMI. They somehow tracked him down after his escape from Point Nemo, throwing him into a dungeon underneath Abbey Road studio, offering freedom on the condition he get back to making another contractually obligated Gorillaz album. That left him a pickle though, as all his former bandmates were missing elsewhere. Fortunately, resourceful sod that he is, Murdoc kidnapped aggressively invited a number of musicians to help make the album until he could find the other Gorillaz members (cyborg option outlawed in the UK?).

By chance, one of these musicians was guitarist Jeff Wootton, whom was letting a returning Russel crash on his couch. Seems Mr. Hobs had quite the experience after swimming all the way to Point Nemo, being mistaken not only for a whale, but also a North Korean kaiju, such that the isolationist nation captured him and put him on display. The experience helped him lose almost all the his mutated weight however, and upon being released and returning to London, heard word Murdoc was in the process of crafting another Gorillaz record. Mr. Hobs immediately joined him in studio to write and record for the album.

Humanz is thus filled with a fair bit of American-inspired funk, house, and soul. For sure there's other elements at work too, but for the most part it seems Russel's influence gave us the final result. About time, as he hasn't had much chance to share his muse throughout the Gorillaz discography since the first record. His time spent in a dictatorial country also apparently gave him a unique perspective in what sort of theme to approach the album with. For instance, what if Western society was also overrun by power-hungry lunatics at the highest levels of government, all the while allowing our culture to crumble around us. No way that could happen here though! Haha, ha.

The Bug vs Earth - Concrete Desert

Ninja Tune: 2017

First Kevin Martin made shockwaves as The Bug with London Zoo. Then he retreated from the alias to focus on a new project with Roger Robinson as King Midas Sound. That did awesome-sauce as well, and it looked as though he'd find a way to flit between the two projects, dedicating his Bug works to the dancehall and grime side of his muse, while working out the dubby, droned-out soul portion of his brain with King Midas Sound. He even got started on a running series with the latter (Edition), inviting like-minded artists in for a little collaborative work. A couple years pass, and it looks about time for either another Bug effort or a second Edition. Figures Mr. Martin opted for a little of both in Concrete Desert, giving us a Bug album that also serves as a collaboration with a prominent drone musician.

Said drone musician is Dylan Carlson, he of the drone metal band Earth and member of the Rasputin Look-Alike Club. Seems they're credited as kicking off that whole scene within the metal pantheon, getting their start sometime in the early '90s. Hey, Kevin Martin was also doing rock music of a sort back then, though more of a post-punk, noise thing that led him to exploring all things dubby later that decade. They have different approaches to their chosen craft, but the endgame seems the same: finding the musical nuances in the empty spaces between notes and sounds.

And Concrete Desert definitely does that. Something of an ode to outer Los Angeles as viewed through a David Lynch lens, there's plenty 'nuff drone tones to go around. In fact, the longest cuts on here go entirely beatless, American Dream and the closing titular track both breaching the ten-minute mark as Misters Martin and Carlson feast off of each others feedback fuzz, sustained guitar timbre, and heavy dub production. These could fit snugly in the dark ambient camps in how bleak and dispiriting they come across. Even the ambient opener City Of Fallen Angels, while a tad more melodic and calm, still comes off suffocating, as though choking on desolate urban heat.

That's all well and good, but folks coming into a Bug album expect some crunchy, bass-heavy beats too. For sure he delivers, though even these come off sparse, more in service of Dylan's evolving drone. Gasoline has a strident march that Dylan's guitar rides on, Snakes & Rats assaults you like a sonic cannon, Don't Walk These Streets quickens the marching pace as all manner of tonal wickedness lurks in the shadowed alleys, and Broke... kinda' reminds me of a NIN interlude.

Nate Patrin of Pitchfork calls Concrete Desert “neo-neo-noir music”, to which I say, “fuck off, Pitchfork, and your retarded hyper-hyphenated genres.” They are right in saying that it “draws you into its discomfort” though. These are far from inviting tones to hear, but Bug and Earth craft such a seductive, sonic dance, you can't help but wander these desolate streets regardless.

Alphaxone & ProtoU - Stardust

Cryo Chamber: 2017

Now this is a pairing I wouldn’t have expected. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t have expected Alphaxone to pair up with anyone, beyond the now-obligatory yearly Cyro Chamber ‘Old Ones Tribute’ jamboree. He’s worked in conjunction with other dark ambient folks on thematic compilation albums, specifically Tomb Of Empires and Tomb Of Seers, but those are still solo outings from Mr. Saleh, merely contributing a piece of music for those particular projects. Lord Discogs tells me this is his first true collaborative effort though; across any alias he’s had this past half-decade. Maybe he’s done others even The Lord That Knows All doesn’t know about, but I kinda’ like Stardust being his first for a simple reason: it fits a narrative!

In case you missed all those Alphaxone reviews I did last year, there’s been a slow, steady conceptual migration in his works from terra firma to the great beyond above. Well, after leaving some alternate dimensions filled with graylands and some-such. However, it’s lonely in space [citation needed], so now that he’s finally out among the stars, perhaps a little company was called for. Enter ProtoU, fresh off her work exploring Southeast Asian crypts, joining in on a little solar surfing. I’m not sure how Ms. Cats knows Mr. Saleh, but I imagine after those Cryo Chamber Collaboration epics, a few emails were exchanged for future reference.

As the name implies, Stardust is a space ambient outing, and surprisingly not so bleak as the dark practitioners of this sub-genre go. For sure it’s got its fair share of isolationist drone, tracks like Sub Signal, Consumed, and Observing Quasars doing the ‘cosmic emptiness’ thing you’ll typically hear in this field. It’s tempered with subtle melodic passages though, plus a surprising amount of field recordings lurking just out of hearing range. Even the latter two tracks of the ones I just listed provide some synthy tonal counter-balance to the atonal nature of space drone, music that feels just as in awe of its surroundings as it does meek and insignificant. Nicely captures the whole ‘we’re all star-stuff’ notion, despite so often confounded by such implications.

If anything, this album feels less about exploring the cosmos at large (something of a daunting task), and rather chilling out on some fringe of civilization, far from contact but not impossibly alone. There’s still star-gazing going down, but more like being at an outpost, or remote colony, pushing the boundaries of our cosmic influence. Hence a track like Planemo Dreams, a lonely track with rainfall/static for sure, wiling the time away on some far-flung dwarf or rogue planet. Counter to that is Versus, which features the cosmic drone, yet also has tweeting birds, and an almost positive twist by track’s end. Then at the conclusion of Stardust, Alignments goes synthy old-school, and Returned’s drone gradually turns into brighter pad washes before fading out into static. Whatever this mission was, it’s safe to assume it’s accomplished. How remarkably upbeat for a dark ambient release.

Mystica Tribe - Island Oasis

Silent Season: 2017

Of all the dubby releases Silent Season has brought us, I never expected something like this. Dub techno, sure. Ambient dub, absolutely. Even when getting away from music with a steady rhythm, going pure ambient littered with field recordings, there’s a touch of the dub resonance in all those layered timbre and effects. This one though, the debut album from Mystica Tribe titled Island Oasis, is unlike any sort of dub release I’ve heard from Silent Season thus far. Maybe I’d find something similar further back in the label’s catalog – of course I haven’t taken in everything they’ve put out – but this one, my friends, is a first.

And what sort of dub can I be talking about? Yes, what is this unprecedented, ‘brand new and good for you’ style that has gotten my head all double-taking an’ shit? Reggae dub, mang. As in, O.G. ‘70s stylee. The bare-bones production, simplistic melodic instrumentation, with the cavernous snare hits, dungeon-deep bass vibes, and echo effects emanating from the furthest reaches of Zion – all from the Book Of Tubby. Not that it’s surprising to hear throwback reggae dub nearly fifty years since its creation, as the genre’s been remarkably persistent even as new approaches and variations on its core concept continue being explored. It’s like the blues: you can do all manner of strange and different things with it, even taking it down roads that lead it into territory far removed from its original ethos, but there’s still something about returning to that vintage, uncomplicated, twelve-bar/stripped-down sound.

So that Silent Season would throw their hat into the reggae dub pot (tee-hee) is a bit of a surprise, but not totally out of left-field – probably an eventuality anyway. What’s caught me even more off-guard is the chap behind Mystica Tribe, one Taka Noda from Tokyo, Japan. Not that it should be – white folk have been making reggae dub for years now, so why wouldn’t someone from the land of the rising sun get in on that action too? From Jamaica to Britain to Japan, island nations gotta’ represent, yo’. And as Mystica Tribe, Taka’s released about a half-dozen EPs, some on SD Records, a print into techno of the acid n’ dub sort, and more recently with his own print. Those records mostly toed the dub techno line, making Island Oasis all the more surprising as a doe-eyed throwback of dub music (including an analog mixdown!).

As for the music, yeah, it’s a reggae dub album, with little in the way of surprises. The echo, reverb, and delay effects are well placed and suitably spacious, the bass has plenty of beefy resonance for your sub-whoofer needs, and there’s typically a different, though familiar, form of melodica leading in each track: organ, harmonica, piano, xylophone. It’s all stuff I’ve heard plenty times before, though interestingly, when I played it at work, one of my older co-workers remarked how strange and different it was to her. What, she never heard UB40?

Various - Greenosophy Chapter II: Collected by Mizoo

Ultimae Records: 2017

This label’s full of surprises as of late. Not only have a couple unexpected acts returned with new albums (Scann-Tec and James Murray), not only did a new live album get released on CD (necessity of said live album still up for debate), not only did some melody return to one of their releases (Eyes To the Height), but now a follow-up to Greenosophy too? Who’d have predicted that?

No, seriously, I wonder, because the original compilation came out a half-decade ago; and honestly passed with little fanfare. Mind, it didn’t do the Mizoo project many favors having its release scheduled between two Solar Fields albums. Not to mention Fahrenheit Project wrapping up the year before, plus the additional compilation of Ambrosia coming out within the same twelve-month period. Oh, and a follow-up to Oxycanta the year after probably whisked away whatever ‘Another Ultimae Compilation’ buzz Greenosophy had going for it. Timing just wasn’t the best for that particular CD, is what I’m saying, and with Ultimae moving on from festival-friendly, mellow psy into the domain of dub techno for their chill offerings, would there be a need for another Greenosophy at this point? Sure, Mizoo could adapt to the label’s current aesthetic as Nova did with Passages, but that’d just be redundant at this point.

A glance at the track list didn’t dissuade me from that assumption either. Scann-Tec’s here, Cell is here, MikTek’s here, and Aes Dana crops up twice. All musicians I like for sure, but also clearly infatuated with dub techno’s aesthetic as of late. Mizoo opens Greenosophy: Chapter II with prog-psy veteran Ovnimoon though, his track Algun Dia more a moody, mysterious ambient piece with a gentle bleep melody lazily drifting along the droning pads. A nice opener, but then we go deep into experimental dub with Claudio Prc’s Domo, the sort of ultra-minimalist track that would have been an experimental piece during Plastikman’s Consumed phase. We’re in for a bit of a trudge in this one, aren’t we?

Not in the slightest! Scann-Tec’s Parsec was one of the better tracks off his Unyt album, and we get a tasty edit of that here. Following that is Security from Cell, doing a… prog-psy thing? Whoa, I don’t think I’ve ever heard Cell up his beats this much. It’s still relatively chill and all, but definitely at a foot-moving pace. And the two Aes Dana tracks that follow (including a collab’ with Mizoo) maintain the pace, though still keeping things on that minimalist vibe he’s been infatuated with as of late. And in case you didn’t get enough melody from Murray before, here’s I Awake and Hybrid Leisureland giving us a straight-up psy-dub outing in Metaworld. Haven’t’ heard something like that from Ultimae for an age.

For the tail-end, Mystic Crock brings acidy downbeat, Ascendant provides a bleepy prog-psy track (trance!), and MikTek does his usual widescreen trip-hoppy thing. All this leaves me thinking, “Please don’t let the next Greenosophy be another half-decade in the making.”