2011 Favourites

A re-up of my best of 2011, with no major label 'product' stinking it up. I've just checked this list, and all the albums I've selected these tracks from are high quality, so do yourself a favour and pick one up. I've tried to pick a representative track in each case, but there's always Youtube if you want to explore these artists further.
Tracklist:

D Charles Speer - Markos's Cave (Arghiledes )
Deerhoof - Must Fight Current (Deerhoof vs. Evil)
The Haxan Cloak - The Fall (The Haxan Cloak)
Six Organs of Admittance - Light of the Light (Asleep on the Floodplain)
Byetone - Black Peace (Symeta)
Grails - Future Primitive (Deep Politics)
Ugandan Methods - Untitled (Mat Oput 1/2 Vinyl)
Le Révélateur - Age Maze (Fictions)
Locrian - The Crystal World (The Crystal World)
Mini Mansions - Kiddie Hypnogogia (Mini Mansions)
Oneida - Pre-Human (Absolute II)
Anima Morte - Devoid of a Soul (Face the Sea of Darkness)
Circle - Saarnaaja (Infektio)
Surgeon - Transparent Radiation (Breaking The Frame)
Seefeel - Sway (Seefeel)
Alexander Tucker - His Arm Has Grown Long (Dorwytch)
Evan Caminiti     - heavy whisper (When California Falls Into The Sea)
Bill Callahan - Baby's Breath (Apocalypse)
Kronos Quartet, Kimmo Pohjonen & Samuli Kosminen - Uniko: III. Sarma (Uniko)
Mind Over Mirrors - Round, Around (The Voice Rolling)
Master Musicians Of Bukkake - Prophecy Of The White Camel / Namoutarre (Totem Three)
The Fear Ratio - Ax (Light Box)

Currently posted on Depositfiles
Mirror:
Mediafire part 1
Mediafire part 2


I'll try and get this up on a mirror, soon, along with some previous years' best ofs.

Köhn - The Ocean That Has No West And No East

Just a Youtube clip this time - nothing to download. From the album 'We Need More Space In The Cosmos', which is excellent. Although this may be the standout track, it's a great album. Blissful, drifting space of the pastoral organic variety. I bought my LP from Aguirre, but they don't seem to have it in stock right now - it appears to be available on LP only.
Some sellers have it on Discogs 

Album cover:

 

Coil

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this blog. There may be some re-ups, there may be some Youtube clips for newer releases, as I don't like to post whole albums until they've been out for a couple of years. Maybe I will edit my hissy fit below. (Maybe not, as I stand by everything in it.)
In the meantime, here is a re-upload of my personal selection of Coil favourites - it may differ slightly from the last one I posted, as I deleted that playlist from my itunes.
This is music that has consistently blown my mind and transported me every time I have listened to it over the years. Balance and Sleazy were two wizards of aural delight, and are still sadly missed, I'm sure, by many around the world.

You can download and unpack these files separately. Depositfiles is the host.

Part 1
Part 2

Various - White Dot Music Best of 2011

Message to fucking arseholes representing Graveyard or their label. There is no Graveyard in this post, nor will there ever be in any future post, should there ever be one; just as I will never purchase anything relating to Graveyard, or anything on your label. There was no Graveyard either in this post, or the Mediafire links when you reported them all. I specifically removed anything related to a major label, then re-posted.
However, being the utter cunts that you are, you felt the need to report this blogpost, and links, which contained nothing related to you or your label; therefore which you had no legal stake in. Now my mediafire account has been suspended, all links are dead, and you have ruined a blog designed to introduce people to obscure music. Good job.
Nuclear Blast, folks. This is what you get when you sign a distribution deal with a major - you suck major cock.


3 month posting gap, blimey. Here's a kind of best of 2011 - there's a few omissions, like Radiohead, and Innercity's Terrestriality, which is a great album, but I don't have it on mp3. I've left off some metal, too - not a vintage year for metal, but I've also been listening to lots on older metal. I would say my favourites of the year were Ulcerate, Rwake, Cannabis Corpse, Azarath, Trap Them; and probably my favourite - Glorior Belli - The Great Southern Darkness. I've also been listening to tons of techno, and hope to get a mix together of recent stuff.
Best albums of 2011:
Bill Callaghan - Apocalypse
Grails - Deep Politics
Byetone - Symeta
Kronos Quartet, Kimmo Pohjonen & Samuli Kosminen - Uniko
The Fear Ratio - Light Box

What's left then? Lots of psych-synth-space rock. This is a slightly smaller list than the one I originally posted, which got reported because because because tiresome bollocks. Hopefully nothing on this list now contains anything tainted with a major label or distributor. If you are going to spend cash on music, don't buy anything on a major - support the independents, and buy direct from bands wherever possible.

1. D Charles Spee r - Markos's Cave (Arghil edes )

2. Deerhoo f - Must Fight Current (Deerhoo f vs Evil)

3. The Haxan Cloa k - The Fall (The Ha xan Cloak)

4. Six Organs of Admitt ance - Light of the Light (Asleep on the Floodp lain)

5. Byeton e - Black Peace (Sym eta)

6. Grail s - Future Primitiv e (Deep Po litics)

7. Uganda n Methods - Untitled (Mat Opu t 1/2 Vinyl)

8. Le Révélateu r - Age Maze (Fictio ns)

9. Locria n - The Crysta l World (The Crystal Worl d)

10. Mini Mansion s - Kiddie Hyp nogogia (Mini M ansions)

11. Oneid a - Pre-Human (Absolute II)

12. Anim a M orte - Devoi d of a Soul (Face the Sea of Dark ness)

13. Circle - Saarnaa ja (Infektio)

14. Surgeo n - Transparen t Radiation (Break ing The Frame)

15. Seefe el - Sway (Seefee l)

16. Alexand er Tuck er - His Arm Has Grown Long (Dorwy tch)

17. Evan Camin iti - heavy wh isper (When Califor nia Falls Into The Sea)

18. Bill Callaha n - Baby's Breath (Apocalypse)

19. Kronos Quarte t, Kim mo Pohjonen & Samu li Kosmin n - Unik o: III Sarma (Un iko)

20. Mind Over Mirror s - Round, Around (The Voi ce Rolli ng)

21. Master Musicians Of Bukkak e - Prophec y Of The White Camel / Namou arre (Tote m Three)

Part 1
Part 2

Genre for these tracks = 'white dot 2011'

You need both parts to unpack.

Ovil Bianca - Gravity=Love

I've had this one for years, and like many things I post here, I only find out the details about them when I'm making the post. Released in 2001 on avant/electronica label (K-RAA-K)³, it turns out that this is by a Belgian fellow called Tim Wijnant. He also released a subsequent album in 2003, which I'm now going to have to seek out, because there is some really excellent stuff on this one. The opening track 'Sermon On The Mount' was 10 years ahead of its time - it's blend of coruscating synth tones and sky-scouring drones is pretty similar to Emeralds or Cloudland Canyon. It builds in ecstatic, eye-shaking fashion, with roaring low end and powerfully disciplined distortion. This is balanced out with some wispy high lines, swathed in ringing harmonic tones. Gorgeous stuff - it should have been 10 minutes longer, but I don't think 20 minute drone epics would have met with quite the same level of acceptance that they are today.
This kind of cosmic overdrive is employed again on 'Casioland', in which tinkling minimalist arpeggios give way to the kind of gutsy techno distorted synth splurges that make you raise a fist in the air. Final track 'Daylight' is a dark, throbbing and atmospheric beast: surging sepulchral waves of bass underpin some distant and mournful wraith-like cries.
Elsewhere there are more experimental sound explorations: 'RadiIO' is a cut-up and phased blend of vocals, bleeps and synth that wouldn't have been out of place on an early Akufen 12"; there are Raster-Noton-like tone constructions, and some spooky and abstract creations with mumbled vocal samples. The whole album is artfully and painstakingly constructed, but is still highly listenable, and very engaging. A bit of a lost gem, really, and sadly out of print.

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The Orb - Blue Room

This is the epic 39'58" mix from 1992, which is a single track cd single. I've listened to this a few times recently, and I'm sure it's not just nostalgia which has made it so enjoyable. Whilst this does transport me back to the early 90s, and the sound of this music is powerfully redolent of the spaced-out listening sessions I used to have, I still think this is objectively excellent. Alex Paterson always has had an inspired touch with samples and synth-scapes. I'm sure he is significantly aided by co-producers Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy from System 7, as well as Thrash, and of course, Jah Wobble.
The opening 6 minutes are classic ambient - spacey samples and synth washes, before a beat kicks in, followed shortly by Wobble's massive striding bass line. It is then just dubbed into oblivion over the next half an hour. Cheeky samples, cavernous breakdowns, percussion overloads, NASA type radio communications, and a great deal of liquid synth effects precede a very monged breakdown halfway through. It builds back up with a variation on the bass line, and chugs away into a blissful distant horizon.

Mediafire

I highly recommend the U.F.Orb album, currently available from Amazon for around the same price as a pint of beer. Much as I love beer, a pint won't be providing me with much joy 18 years after I've consumed it.
Buy it - it's brilliant.

Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die

Released back in 1996 as the burgeoning post rock scene was rising to prominence, this contains what I think is still one of the genre's greatest ever statements - 'Djed'. This was the 21 minute epic that took up the entire first side of the album. At the time, it was a common characteristic of post rock that the bass would often lead the melody, and this piece is driven by a monstrous chugging bass line that provides rhythm and melody in equal measure, as an electric piano slowly comes in riffing over the top. Obviously a 21 minute track has to progress, as in Prog-ress, like all great tracks that take up an entire side of an LP. The beat slows down as the bass mongs out on one note, before some slightly Phillip Glass-esque syncopated keys and vibes arpeggiate all over the place in a rather epic section. Everything then spanners out as if your stereo has broken, then these broken sounds are looped into their own groove, while more instruments are brought in, until this, too breaks down into an ultra-low, slow pulsing bass groove. An awesome track, an inspired construction.
The rest of the tracks are also excellent, combining clenched brain jazzism with piles of bass blocks and electronic smudges vibraphones and a lush closer. The desertified beauty of 'Along The Banks Of Rivers' soundtracking an imaginary western where all the protagonists are having an afternoon kip in a hammock for the film's duration.

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Senking - Ping Thaw

During a long-overdue rewatch of John Carpenter's The Thing last night, I thought of this excellent album, which is strongly influenced by both the soundtrack and the general ambience of the film, and contains some speech samples on 'Thaw'. This is a cd compilation of two 12" EPs from 1999 and 2000, both of which are highly atmospheric, with a sense of looming dread. There is a definite sense of Arctic isolation, and heavily reverbed sounds of ice cracking, and glaciers colliding, under washes of spacy synth. 'Risk' from the first EP heads into quite heavy industrial territory, but it's the later 'Thaw' EP that shows a more assured touch, and mastery of foreboding atmospheres, with growling low synths, and syncopated, dubbed out delay - definitely fits nicely into the Chain Reaction/Uusitalo/Vladislav Delay spectrum. Jens Massel is still producing quality electronica as Senking - last year's 'Pong' is excellent, and highly recommended - veering into the more abstract outreaches of dubstep.

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Blue - Mexican Church

A dark and classy electronica album from 1996. This was released on the venerable Andrew Weatherall's Emissions Audio Output label, and other than that I know very little about these chaps.
This draws heavily from industrial (and) dub sources, which is perhaps why it has dated better than most of the electronic music from 1996 - foregoing the crispy drums machines and crystalline synths in favour of a more murky and sludgy concoction. Some of the melodies remind me of Coil, which is probably why I like this album so much: the synths at the end of 'Gorgon', for example. There's nice use of backwards sounds, and slightly pitch-bent lines which inject that element of queasy psychedelia. They don't entirely abandon danceability, though - there are some squelchy bass breakbeat groovers ('Dark Blue', 'Lower') for the more mogadon discoteques. Weirdly, last preoper track 'Sand Stone' is a decent example of the more chirpy IDM sound of '96, and although it's good, I prefer the darker areas the rest of the album deals with.

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Golden Palominos - Dead Inside

The Golden Palominos was the art rock project of drummer and producer Anton Fier. Often featuring Bill Laswell and Nicky Skopelitis, it was a bit of a who's who NY outfit. This 1996 album has loads of obvious influence from the contemporaneous illbient scene - lots of cut up drum and bass percussion along with Laswell's thunderous bass, and some nice trippy sound design - even some acid lines! Somewhat akin to Meat Beat Manifesto. What sets this apart is the spoken word/poetry from Lori Carson on all tracks. Her delivery is excellent - covering a variety of voices, and is authoritative as well as rich. The words themselves are excellent - the first track is a first person account of an abductee locked in the trunk of the moving car of her abductor; delivered over an ominous, beatless tapestry of sound. The album's centrepiece is 'The Ambitions Are' - a bleakly dystopic vision delivered unflinchingly: the ambitions are "Wake up; breathe; keep breathing". A really good album for engaging your brain.

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Kangding Ray - Stabil

Kangding Ray is the project of David Letellier, and this is his first album, from 2006, released on the splendid Raster-Noton label. It is a suite of elegant, introspective and beautiful electronica. Lush yet airy synths glide back and forth in waves - a lot of reversed samples are used, and the percussion is mostly the purely electronic clicking, tapping variety, deployed in a restrained fashion. Some tracks are dominated by the highly musical synth arrangements, and others get a bit of a groove going - 'Sub.res' introduces a throbbing bass tone, some sampled acoustic guitar, and a wider variety of percussive noises to build a gently rocking rhythm. 'Mai' is an exquisite construction - gently pulsing arpeggios of a variety of sounds sweep across each other in a vaguely melancholic haze. 'Nine' rocks it up again, with an Autechre-like beat and some sub bass over a clanking machine noise, then the album finishes with a lovely, luminous synth-only piece called 'Wellen'. Fantastic stuff - also highly recommended is the Pruitt Igoe EP from last year, and his second album 'Automne Fold' which has some heavier beats, some vocals, and also some ominous and scary distorted synth waves used to great effect, but retains the rich musicality.

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Etienne Jaumet - Night Music

This superb album came out in late 2009. Etienne Jaumet is also in synth duo Zombie Zombie, who are not ashamed to reveal their influences - releasing an EP of their interpretations John Carpenter music. Whilst the influence of John Carpenter can be clearly heard on Night Music, the influence of Carl Craig takes the sound away from the more retro synth-fest of ZZ, into a more techno influenced direction. Craig is credited: 'Mix directed and imagined by Carl Craig', so it's not clear exactly what he does, but the grooves are allowed to run here, opening up into spacious vistas. First track 'For Falling Asleep' is a 20-minute epic masterpiece, driven by an arpeggiating synth, and simple kick drum. The track is pulled into the stratosphere with restrained duelling saxophones lines with heavy delay, and some trippy vintage synth noises. Like most of my favourite synth based music, it looks both forward and backward in time, with a futuristic ambience perfectly suited to driving around ultra modern cities at 3am. Although this is clearly the best track, every track on here is brilliant. The fat analogue lines and simple, classic drum machine grooves are always perfectly embellished with great melodies, and lush, deep ambience. On 'Through The Strata', what sounds like a hurdy-gurdy adds harmonic richness - hurdy gurdy and saxophone are not instruments I would generally associate with this kind of music, but they are inspired choices. The saxes return on the beatless last track 'At The Crack Of Dawn' - a reprise of the first track, which rounds out this hypnotic, resonant LP. Utterly brilliant: this was probably my album of 2009. Also, it makes a good companion piece to the Sinoia Caves album.

Versatile records asked me to delete the link. I'm going to leave the post up anyway, because I wholeheartedly endorse this brilliant album. I bought mine on vinyl from Juno, but they don't seem to have it any more. You can get it here or here in the US.

Youtube clip of 'For Falling Asleep'.

Six Organs Of Admittance - Nightly Trembling

This is probably my favourite release by Ben Chasny's cosmic folk project. From 2003, it consists of two epic and glorious tracks based mostly around layers of vocals and guitar. 'Redefinition Of Being' has a wonderful chant for multiple voices that seems perfectly circular in nature; running on and on and into itself. This line is echoed in acoustic guitar, with some primitive hand drums offering laid back percussive impetus. There are numerous steel stringed guitars creating a chiming undergrowth of reverby harmonics. It generates a kind of occult ambience that I can imagine soundtracking some of the weirder end of 70s cult or horror cinema: the day for night scene of the Knights Templar on horseback from Tombs Of The Blind Dead springs to mind for some reason.
'Creation Aspect Fire' has more of a ritual feel to it, with a more intense delivery of vocals and instruments. This breaks down into a harmonic temple drone, with some high chiming bells piercing the churning ambience with crystalline clarity. This slowly gives way to a gentle combination of voice and gently freaking out acoustic guitar that echoes the first track.
Also recommended: Dark Noontide; The Sun Awakens; Dust & Chimes.

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21/08/2011 - just a quick edit to say that Luminous Night is probably my favourite Six Organs album right now, and the recent 'Asleep On The Floodplain' is also superb - both highly recommended.

Coil

2010 was the year that Peter Christopherson joined Jhon Balance in the land of the not living, so I'm going to end the year with a fairly substantial upload of some of my favourite Coil tracks. I had a bit of a Coil-fest when I heard PC had died; put this compilation together; then had doubts about whether uploading a load of their music was a fitting tribute, bearing in mind that quite a few other folk made large contributions to Coil's music.
Here it is anyway: there are no more than 2 or 3 tracks from any one album; approx 590mb. This contains some of my favourite music ever.

I've re-upped a Coil selection, in case you are following a link. Follow another link to the post.

Air Liquide - Neue Frankfurter Elektronik Schule

A classic for Christmas. From 1992 this is archetypal Cologne business - deeply atmospheric and trippy. It's all one track, so you get samples of UFO spotters over ultra deep and spaced synth washes and bleepy noises. These blend into speedy acid trance-outs, with pattering drums and squiggling 303s. Swathes of panned static, radio noise and samples are the backdrop. It's a formula I love, and an album I love.

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Mordant Music - SyMptoMs

Mordant music are a mysterious and intriguing collective. Their music is fascinating, and they don't seem to be the kind of folk who employ voracious lawyers who are desperate to keep themselves in employment, trying to influence thinking and policy about music rights or legislation about copyright. The kind of cunts who offer nothing creative, who only want to syphon off their earnings from the creative industries. Expect lawyers to be at the forefront of all forthcoming copyright/mp3/pirating debates, trying to save their own bacon, and fatten it up at the same time. They don't give a shit about artists, but they certainly earn a shitload of money from them. But I digress.
This album sees this weird collective sometimes embrace a Pop Group-style polemic; classic Underworld repetition, and an ultra-modern aesthetic that keeps them fresh and strange. The title track is a truly glorious combination of these elements: pulsating epic Berlin techno backgrounds some proper spoken vocals, but also surges into the foreground, with chiming, tinkling melodies. This track is truly magnificent, and is worth downloading for. 'You Are A Door' is another fabulous track, with a wickedly chugging electro beat, and more spaced out atmospherics. Mordant are a curious bunch - definitely worth investigating further.

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Laub - Unter Anderen Bedingungen Als Liebe

Laub were kind of electronica/post rock crossover who fitted nicely into a loose scene alongside To Rococo Rot, Kreidler; and labels like Payola, Kiff SM, and Kitty Yo - on which this album was released in 1999. These labels and artists are German, and the vocals, by Antye Greie-Fuchs are delivered in German, and it shares the live drums favoured by many of their contemporaries. There is a kind of detached iciness to the vocals that fits perfectly with the clean synths, crisp noises and crystalline tones underneath them. Delivered often in half whispered, or half spoken manner, they add a quiet and restrained intensity to the music. This intensity peaks and bursts forth in the epic title track. It begins with gorgeous pulsating harmonic synths, hi hats, and a keening, melancholy descending 3 note trombone line. Antye is joined by one of her male bandmates on vocals, their combined whispers giving the impression of some kind of ominous warning being delivered, or a description of some kind of ruined dream-like world from a Tarkovsky film. My German is poor - it's probably about something banal, but it certainly doesn't sound like it. The bubbling, resonant synths all the while are rising in the background, becoming more acidic. Some nicely understated guitar lines, and more horns propel the song further upwards. It's a wonderful track, not to dissimilar in overall mood to The For Carnation album, and makes an otherwise decent album completely worthwhile.

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Emeralds - Solar Bridge

There's a fair amount of hype about these space/psych dronesters at the moment. Is it deserved? If you like rich, syrupy waves of gorgeous synth; rasping and rippling space reverberations; the sound of consciousness cast adrift in the singing cosmos, then yes, it is. Utterly lovely, spaced-out and mesmerizing: this is a two track, 27 minute release from 2008.
Do yourself a favour and buy a copy of this, or more of their releases from Hanson Records - the self titled album and 'What Happened' are both highly recommended, and are pretty cheap, especially if you're in the States.

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Locust - Natural Composite

A classic example of electronica from 1994. Mark Van Hoen has been responsible for some excellent music over the years under his own name, as Locust, and as a part of Autocreation amongst others. Some of his later work became more lush in texture, incorporating vocals to great effect (The Girl With The Fairytale Dream from the Morning Light album is a beautiful example) – but this album is rooted firmly in the realms of dark, moody abstract electronica. Pattering percussion, low-pulsing bass and restrained metallic rhythms are integral to the sound, but secondary to the dark, sombre and disquieting soundscapes enveloping them. This is mainly synth based, but sunk into depths of reverb; and accompanied by loops and samples, an alien and claustrophobic feeling is evoked on the darker tracks. There are some more driving, rhythm based tracks that call to mind similar artists from the period like Reload and Aphex Twin, but the best stuff is the more ambient material. It’s a soundtrack to paranoia, dissociation, mental disintegration in a flotation tank. My favourite, ‘Good God’, has a repeated sibilant whisper of a sample – a woman repeatedly intoning the words of the title. This is incredibly effective, summoning up some kind of abstract nameless dread.

Mediafire

In reply to the comment, this was ripped from the old cd. The version available on itunes is remastered, and has extra tracks, so go and purchase them. Check out Mark Van Hoen's website - it has a soundcloud mix of selections from his discography, as well as details of all his releases and their availability.

Grails - Burning Off Impurities

Grails are a psychedelic instrumental band from Portland, and this is one of many excellent releases by them, from 2007. They specialise in a hazy, drifting, shuffling kind of post rock forged from ostensibly cliched components - reverby psych guitar, eastern cadences and a smattering of acoustic instruments (sitar, mandolin, piano); all held together with gummy resin from the inside of a bong. The whole adds up to much more than the sum of the parts, convincingly delivered at a perfect pace, with a masterful grasp of ambience and dyamics. They often rock out as a counterpoint to the glowing ambient parts, but never with a wall of heavy guitars, which is quite refreshing, despite how much I love heavy guitars. Brilliant stuff - you can buy loads of Grails stuff from Temporary Residence.

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