Boomkat – new LOUIS & BEBE BARRON, LEB LAZE, NETHER, etc

*Strictly limited pressing, initial copies come on clear vinyl* Following on from a cover feature in this month’s The Wire magazine, Richard Skelton makes this beautiful and scarce CD album available on a limited edition vinyl pressing. ‘Black Swallow & Other Songs’ was originally released on Skelton’s own Sustain Release imprint in a criminally low run of 100 CDs, so this will be the first chance many will get to hear this material. The album unfolds to reveal a soft and sparse study in understated melodies, with the nine minute “Artery” opening the album and building from a fractured whisper to leave its mark on your skin with blurry violin notes stretching to breaking point. The title track continues the theme, adding a heavy dose of melancholy to proceedings. But on the closing suite, “Owl Lanterns” and “The Clearing,” we get a full dose of hopefulness: vocal traces flicker by while the bowed strings add an unfaltering lightness, with Skelton’s guitar plucks passing by with a buoyant spirit. As Autumn Grieve’s wordless vocals bring everything to a close, there’s nowhere else to go but up. Her voice is the exclamation mark, powerful and restrained as it leads the strings to rest. Black Swallow & Other Songs is a potent mix of darkness and light, expertly crafted by one of the UK’s most interesting composers.

The 1956 soundtrack to sci-fi classic ‘Forbidden Planet’ is possibly one of the best known, yet least owned pieces of tape music in history. Long unavailable on vinyl, it’s definitively evocative ‘electronic tonalities’ were crafted by husband/wife duo Louis and Bebe Barron using the earliest tape recording techniques. Louis, a playwright, and Bebe, a researcher for Life magazine had gained some experience with tape through an early Telefunken model given by a German friend as a wedding present. When the couple moved to New York’s artistic haven, Greenwich Village around 1950 they encountered John Cage who commissioned them and their tape machine to work with him and David Tudor, resulting one year later in Cage’s Williams Mix, a four minute composition comprised from spliced fragments of over 600 recordings. Because they were one of a very select few to own such equipment at the time, their studio was frequently visited by the likes of Pierre Boulez, Stockhausen, and Edgard Varèse, while their writing connection also lead to them making spoken-word recordings of Anais Nin, Henry Miller, Aldous Huxley and Tennessee Williams. Commissions for IBM and Ford followed, before a meeting with MGM’s Dore Schary lead to the creation of the ‘Forbidden Planet’ soundtrack, which at the time was considered by John Cage to be “disgustingly orchestral and musical” and ironically not even recognised as music by the Musicians’ Union who decreed it be credited as “Electronic Tonalities”. At the time, MGM didn’t even release the original soundtrack, instead opting for an orchestrated version of the theme by the David Rose Orchestra, which begs the question what may have come if the general public at large were able to own a copy of the fantastical sounds they had just been exposed to at the cinema, and what this may have inspired from them, and Louis and Bebe Barron? Aside from a slight pressing fault at the start of Side B in ‘Krell Shuttle Ride and Power Station’, the mastering and sound recreation by Norman Blake is faithful and near flawless, enhancing what is surely one of the most essential purchases of the year for fans of electronic music.

‘Play That Beat Mr. Raja’ is a gobsmacking compilation of recordings made for the Tamil film industry, taking in all manner of bizarre mid-late ’80s sonics in the most beguiling, mindblowing manner. Like Charanjit Singh’s ‘Ten Raga’s To A Disco Beat’ or the Tafo Brothers’ ‘Plugged-in Pakistani Pops’ it’s an ear-opening exposé of the nascent, yet hugely sophisticated, electronic productions from this part of the world, making for a potently intoxicating experience to these Western sensibilities. To be fair, we’re being a bit broad there, as this sound is really most specific to the Kollywood film industry based in the South Indian city of Chennai (formerly Madras) at the opposite end of the sub continent to Charanjit Singh and the Tafo Bros. It was compiled by the obsessives over at Cartilage Records, a team of Parisian bloggers/DJs and runs through eleven ecstatic fusions of truly insane drum machine acrobatics, slashing cinematic strings, the nuttiest analog synth sounds and the most charming vocals with an innate feel for daring structures and delirious composition. The sense of freedom and creativity is utterly endearing, placing familiar western concepts in a whole other context to leave us floored at every turn. Take the almost avian vocals and fractal arrangement of Japanil Kalyanaraman’s opening ‘Title Music’ (1985) for starters, then just try keeping your composure when the machine funk and vocoders of Vikram’s ‘Vikram Vikram’ (1986) hit, because we certainly couldn’t! There’s just too much to sink into, from the demented drum flurries of Mangamma Sabatham’s ‘Cola Cola Cola Cola’ to the lethal street funk of Putham Puthu Nayagan’s ‘Nallmuzhuvathum’ or the Ghost Box-like charm of Punnagai Mannan’s ‘Love Theme’, all of it leaving us dazed and (almost) speechless. If you’ve checked the clips and need any more persuasion, consider that it’s pressed on audiophile quality 140g vinyl, all songs faithfully mastered with no edits and contains notes for each composer and main playback singers, plus dazzling sleeve art and full colour, printed inner. It’s just droolworthy and totally ESSENTIAL!!!

**First of two vinyl editions covering the work of incredible Tamil producer Ilaiyaraaja – containing 9 tracks and sleevenotes by FK’s Doug Shipton** Some of the heaviest dancefloor friendly electronic pop to ever emerge from Southern India!!! Impossible to pigeonhole and characterised by his own indefinable style, Ilayaraaja Isaignani is the undeniable prince of Kollywood cinema, India’s second largest film industry. Ilaiyaraaja is more than equal to his forward-thinking contemporaries in Bollywood and Lollywood in both productivity and experimentation – with a 34-year career spanning more than 900 film scores in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada – the man is a genre in his own right. And it’s an odd occurrence, this: in some sort of South Indian sonic syzygy, this amazing collection from Finders Keepers lands in the same week as another incredible set on Cartilage Music (called ‘Play That Beat Mr. Raja – Selected oddities from the Tamil film industry’), a compilation that also features Ilayaraaja. However, the two comps are defined by the eras they cover, this one illuminating the years 1977-1983 where we can hear glimpses of synthesizer incorporated into a fruity set of killer psyche-funk arrangements. Amazingly heavy selection from FInders Keepers this – don’t miss!

**Second of two vinyl editions covering the work of incredible Tamil producer Ilaiyaraaja – containing 9 tracks and sleevenotes by FK’s Doug Shipton** Some of the heaviest dancefloor friendly electronic pop to ever emerge from Southern India!!! Impossible to pigeonhole and characterised by his own indefinable style, Ilayaraaja Isaignani is the undeniable prince of Kollywood cinema, India’s second largest film industry. Ilaiyaraaja is more than equal to his forward-thinking contemporaries in Bollywood and Lollywood in both productivity and experimentation – with a 34-year career spanning more than 900 film scores in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada – the man is a genre in his own right. And it’s an odd occurrence, this: in some sort of South Indian sonic syzygy, this amazing collection from Finders Keepers lands in the same week as another incredible set on Cartilage Music (called ‘Play That Beat Mr. Raja – Selected oddities from the Tamil film industry’), a compilation that also features Ilayaraaja. However, the two comps are defined by the eras they cover, this one illuminating the years 1977-1983 where we can hear glimpses of synthesizer incorporated into a fruity set of killer psyche-funk arrangements. Amazingly heavy selection from FInders Keepers this – don’t miss!

Not that it really matters a jot what we have to say, but boy this is a good album. Radiohead have long found themselves in the strange position of being tagged as weird by the mainstream press (by mainstream read pretty much everybody), and not quite weird enough by everyone else. Meantime, the band carry on producing an exceptional body of work, writing amazing songs and rendering them with invention and a level of accomplishment that’s more often than not staggering. And then you hear some Radio 4 show or another comparing ‘King of Limbs’ to Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed, his 1975 f*ck you to the music industry, and the album most often cited by journo’s in desperate need of something ‘experimental’ for a frame of reference. Metal Machine Music? Really? And then you get a whole bunch of more ‘knowing’ music followers comparing Radiohead to Flying Lotus or Autechre, similarly vacuous points of reference as far as we’re concerned, but then, whatever. Basically, King Of Limbs is just a great great set of songs, and if you look hard you’ll even find similarities with other alternative bands through the last 20 years, the looped drums of incredible album opener ‘Bloom’ sound to us like an updated version of classic Moonshake, while ‘Feral’ really just stands out as one of the most well-realised hybrid productions you’ll hear in 2011. We love it.

**Limited to 110 copies with bonus CD** Second transmission from the mysterious Western Standards, giving a curiously nuanced and diverse followup up to the enigmatic scenery of their ‘Energy Centre’ edition which dropped by in late 2010. Again, we’re given few clues as to the music’s origins, but with records like this half the fun is in filling in the gaps for yourself. The A-side guides us through three distinct sections, from a palette cleansing passage of drone to a skulky and downbeat electro groove with a stealthily disorientating scheme before closing out to a longer piece of burbling krautrock/minimalist techno rhythms arranged with unpredictable diversions into hypnotic, noisy textures and strangely spaced bass. Better yet is the other side, set up with three tracks of genuinely eerie, languid Kosmische, from the gentle dissonance of the first part to a windswept plane of plangent guitar and Barn Owl drone silting up in the final throes. We’re really no closer to discovering their secret after listening to ‘Space Is A Place’, but that’s no problem, you almost feel like the illusion would be spoiled if you knew more. Highly recommended.

*Includes a download code redeemable directly from the label* New York’s irrepresible anglophile Falty DL takes influence from the last 20 years of UK and US dance music on a brilliant 2nd album for Planet Mu. Since his debut ‘Love Is A Liability’ was released in 2009, Falty DL (real name: Drew Lustman) has risen to the forefront of the scene with a slew of deft remixes for The xx, Shake, Mount Kimbie and many others, to much critical acclaim. ‘You Stand Uncertain’ continues the sharp evolutionary curve we’ve witnessed in those remixes and his singles for Ramp and Rush Hour, among others, as his sharper IDM edges become beautifully smudged into ever jazzier, more soulful, yet forward thinking productions. Starkey collaborator Anneka lends her clear enunciation to the twinkling 2-step opener ‘Gospel Of Opal’, and relative unknown Lily McKenzie brings a burnished richness to the Theo P-style depths of ‘Waited Patiently’ and the Garage soul burn of ‘Brazil’, each highly successful in their own respects. The rest of the album further indulges his anglophilic tendencies in lush style and diverse tempos, from AGCG samples on ‘Open Space’ to the quicksilver skip ‘n dip of ‘Tell Them Stories’ and the ‘ardcore ructions of ‘Lucky Luciano’, but equally, there’s a deep seam of New York heritage and finesse that courses through the veins of each cut. Overall, it’s about as close to flawless as you’ll find for this sound, and comes very highly recommended indeed.

‘Street Halo’ is the first solo Burial 12″ in four years. It’s a peach. A-side ‘Street Halo’ is a yearning 4/4 roller tucked with all the hallmarks of his finest and usefully cut at 45rpm in case you want some slopped and screwed fun. Flipside, we find the slowdown soul-tugger ‘NYC’ featuring a more prominent vocal in the style of his songs from ‘Untrue’, but best of all is ‘Stolen Dog’, hankering after a twoc’ed mutt through a beautiful, Roedelius-like lead refrain, barely-there rhythms and swarming spectral shapes. Worth the wait? Indeed.

Following a flurry of 7″ activity in 2010, Panda Bear prepares for his full length with sterling remix support from Actress. Prostrated on the beach, waves crashing in the background, ‘Surfers Hymn’ is a delirious pop ritual revolving around cascading, rainbow-coloured melodies struck on some kind of treated marimba or xylophone and refracted against the sand’s heat haze shimmer into glorious harmonies, crucial points accentuated with the sound of overheard planes and squawking gulls. Dazed and washed up after a day in the waves, Actress’ ‘Primitive Patterns’ remix views the original though clogged ears, the tinkling, melodic polyrhythms sounding like they’re played back through a conch shell while the percussive grooves are corroded to a sand-stomping tribal jack reminding of Ra.H’s ‘Time’ 12″ for Morphosis. This is one irresistible bit of wax – strictly limited and Highly recommended!

**Extremely limited twelve – new from Ekoplekz** Ekoplekz illuminates our radar with an incoming alien dub transmission for Mordant Music. Sharing two of its tracks, ‘Fountain Square’ is a vinyl companion to the recent, blink-and-you-missed-it ‘Memowrekz’ tapepack, investigating similarly unexplained analog occurrences as his Punch Drunk wax outing in 2010. These tracks are perhaps rhythmically and melodically made for the ‘floor, albeit the anti-G ‘floor of a one man echo chamber lost in deepest headspace. ‘Daytron Romance’ is a gritty lo-fi stepper with skittering, delayed drums creating a giddy sense of chaos around an harmonious core of woozy Radiophonic tones. ‘Doctrine 81’ (a version of ‘Doctrine 72’ from the boxset) salutes Sun Araw from the other side of the moon, squashing bulbous subs until they start to distort and crack while Martian melodica sings to the rain gods. Doing a one-foot bubble on the flip, ‘Arkrite’ is a dense cloud of animalistic analogue spirits, like the Elephants got loose from Ijahman Levi’s I Am A levi’ and took to a boiling, Ballardian ocean with Tapes in a ferric vessel while ‘Temporal Drift’ is the open ended voyage into cyberdub dimensions tipping off at the point of event horizon. Limited copies – essential purchase.

Massively impressive debut from multi-instrumentalist talent, Memotone, backed with a smudged House refit by Lukid! Lead track ‘Multicolour’ is a masterful frisson of crisp and sharp, technicoloured hi-end riffage cushioned by wide subs with a magical, BoC like wow & flutter breakdown, but ‘Bellatrix’ is more on the Zomby tip, calculated synth arpeggiations running over tumultuous hiphop/double-timed rhythms. In a stroke of A&R genius, Lukid appears on the flip with a cyber-dreamy refit infused with padded 4/4 House kicks while the sugary melody is caramelised into a sticky, shiny residue. Don’t sleep on this one!

Deadly, digitally-driven special from the Black Victory vaults, rescued from obscurity by the Honest Jon’s/Mark Ernestus-curated Dug Out imprint. Powered by a welting machine rhythm – sounding more criss than ever on this pressing – Bagga Walker’s bass speaks eases the groove while Willie Williams sings, but the best has to be the rare, gripping Colarman toast.

Limited edition (300 copies) vinyl debut from A/V W*itch House force, Mater Susiria Vision. If you’ve had a beady eye on this scene you’ll no doubt be familiar with MSV’s occultish oeuvre. Their work always has a strong visual corollary, usually appearing on multimedia DVDs or CDs up until now, and slots in neatly with Pendu Sound’s tainted roster of Atelecine and Chelsea Wolfe, among others. However, it’s hard to escape the fact that ‘Exorcism Of The Hippies’ sounds like an emaciated Salem. That’s not necessarily a terrible thing, and their exaggeratedly lo-fi methods gives the record a shadowy soul of its own, but you do end up kinda craving some more 808 fills and proper hooks. It looks great though, and for the collectors this is choice little oddity. Limited copies – don’t sleep!