Daydream Beginning
Eluvium: Noun.
1. Residual deposits of soil, dust and rock particles produced by the action of the wind.
2. One stage name of Matthew Cooper, experimental electronic musician.
Nightmare Ending is Cooper’s most recent album, a meandering collection of thickly atmospheric pieces that are as naturalistic as the artist’s pseudonym implies. Here, Eluvium composes the score of his own unknowable film. This soothing, meditative record combines several genres into one constantly evolving whole, gently brushing elements of shoe-gaze, classical romanticism and ambient music over a quiet landscape.
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By Sean Taras Posted in High Fidelity, Reviews Eluvium
Same Guitar, Different Sound
The sound of Los Angeles local band TORCHES is the sound that the world has agreed to refer to as “indie.” Jangling and chiming guitars dominate every song, accompanied by swooping low key male/female vocal harmonies and fuzzy bass lines. All throughout If the People Stare, the band’s latest EP, that new-world indie feeling is hard to ignore. In spite of the fact that this is a band covering familiar ground in well-traveled lands, TORCHES has somehow managed to avoid becoming boring. It would be easy to get lost in the sea of indie-rock bands that ebb and flow all over LA every weekend, but a few always find ways to stand out. TORCHES sets itself apart by being a band that offers something more than the expected guitar hooks and the sweet harmonies.
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By Sean Taras Posted in High Fidelity, Reviews TORCHES
Music for Insomniacs
Mark Van Hoen got involved with music in the early ’80s and has been producing and releasing music for 20 years under different names; he is a highly influential musician, though often overlooked. The sound that put groups like Boards of Canada on the map can be found weaving through Van Hoen’s catalog. His latest release under the Locust pseudonym, You’ll Be Safe Forever, is a strange piece of work indeed.
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By Sean Taras Posted in Reviews locust, mark van hoen
The Future is Yesterday
OMD have been putting out music on a semi-regular basis for over 30 years, working a kind of longevity that most bands will never know. What started as a British new-wave band in the late ’70s slowly became a group that many future artists would cite as a major influence. English Electric, the band’s latest release, proves that they’re still working as hard as ever.
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By Sean Taras Posted in Reviews OMD
Being Cool Isn’t Cool, Which Is Cool
New York has long been a major center for new developments in music and is widely regarded as the greatest city in the world by almost all New Yorkers. Caveman is one of the more interesting bands to come out of the Big Apple recently, and they’re doing more bucking than following with regard to the city’s musical tradition.
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By Sean Taras Posted in Reviews Caveman
There’s Something There
The wages of secrecy for musical artists can be either obscurity or intrigue, or, in many instances, both at once. Case in point–Fol Chen. A band on its third full length release, The False Alarms, Fol Chen has yet to make its way into the ears of most audiences yet still manages to generate its own kind of special interest. Members of this band spent several years hiding their faces and shying from the public eye, only now beginning to drift into the light.
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By Sean Taras Posted in Reviews Fol Chen
Too Bright?
There seems to be a new genre of music that’s been gaining steam over the past several years. Artists everywhere are employing creative techniques to make music that blurs the line between live and programmed, between vintage and New Wave. Javelin is part of this movement, and their latest release, Hi Beams, hovers in unusually familiar airspace.
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By Sean Taras Posted in Reviews Javelin
Trance Music’s Tower of Babel
Trance fans all over the world have been tuned into the Anjunabeats label for years. Founded in 2000 by Jonathan Grant and Paavo Siljamaki (and later joined by Tony McGuinness), Above & Beyond is the driving force behind this label. These three Brits are dedicated to bringing listeners the best in trance music by putting out their own releases and promoting dozens of other artists. Anjunabeats Volume 10 is their latest collection, and it’s a big one.
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By Sean Taras Posted in Reviews Above & Beyond
A Peaceful War
German-born musician Sascha Ring, or Apparat, has come from a history of dance-oriented music to dabble in ambient sound crafting. Millions of unwitting listeners have already tuned into his work on a number of television shows that feature Apparat music, but very few of them know about Krieg und Frieden (Music for Theatre). In fact, no one really seems to know much about it. This, our latest album from Apparat, is a record released as covertly as possible. Ring decided to forego any kind of promotion for his latest work, opting instead to have it finished and released as soon as possible. The music itself is almost as quiet as the launch was, predominantly composed slow and hazy ambient tunes. It’s an unconventional album in many ways, not least of which being the fact that it is actually a score.
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By Sean Taras Posted in Reviews Apparat
Looking In
New York based artist Arthur Ashin, or Autre Ne Veut, is relatively new to the world of music but he’s already carving out an interesting style of his own. Ashin’s music is of a style heavily influenced by soul and R&B with a heavy electronic edge. What sets him apart from the field is an unusual feeling that runs throughout his latest release, and it’s advertised quite boldly on the cover: Anxiety.
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By Sean Taras Posted in Reviews Autre Ne Veut
