getting caught up on various things I have but haven't listened to...

bvdub - Tribes at the Temple of Silence

The first of his I've checked since The Art of Dying Alone - sometimes with ambient-ish recordings I'm not inclined to check out multiple albums by the same artist if I'm not convinced the artist can change it up that much, and I liked The Art of Dying Alone but I wasn't sure I heard something justifying the level of praise that had been ascribed the artist. Hard to avoid noticing the many subsequent bvdub releases (within a couple years' time) so gave it another shot - this seems to have more rapid development and more variety, the presence of overt rhythms helps - though they don't seem a crutch or to undermine the ambient leanings. I like this way better. Anyone heard any of the more recently celebrated stuff (e.g. Serenity)?

Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Fetch

I feel like this is the most accessible of the studio recordings. More dynamic inside the individual tracks, clearer differences in style from track to track. The addition of some traditional instrumentation makes a difference, bigger variety in texture/timbre but they don't take over. Genuinely surprised at some reviews I've read with impressions to the contrary!

Deepchord - Sommer

I have a love/hate w/ artists in the Basic Channel vein, I love the sound and keep checking for that stuff even as I feel like it's overly derivative - I like dark, I like dubby, but those qualities are easily reduced to formula. I think the Modell/Hitchell stuff starts to go in more interesting directions when they get into this 'summer' vibe a la Liumin; there's something in techno that is inward-looking by nature and this seems particularly pronounced in the 'dub-techno' areas, so overt warmth or brightness in concept is a good way to break the isolated/autistic tendencies. The layers of hiss and field sounds lend well to summer, better than to 'cold' - I live in a place that gets very humid in the summer and this is the best aural representation of 'humidity' that I can think of.

Shackleton - Quiet Hour

I have the release that also includes the drawbar organ stuff, but haven't gotten to that disc - enjoy the Quiet Hour for being a good illustration of a long-form recording. I feel like I hear a lot of work in something like this, it escapes me being able to give something space to be re-worked over lengthier stretches, riding a select set of sounds - increasingly genre-less.

The Best of Bloodfire

Daz-I-Kue remixing various classics ("The Bottle," "Love to the World") and some others ("Lighters Up" L'il Kim), more house-y than say, broken beat, but a nice remix collection - knowing the intersection, you get the picture, not much to say!


I have other stuff to listen to but time is limited....