na: tim hecker
Tim Hecker, An Imaginary Country: Been excited to hear this one for a while now. Still haven’t listened, but Andy Beta’s review is glowing:
While still grounded in waves of pure sound (no doubt run through more filters than a Jersey water processing plant so as to become crystalline), An Imaginary Country feels like nothing short of an orchestral work, though naturally one minus the strings, toms, woodwinds and conductor’s baton. Hecker leaves only the swells and crests of such massive symphonic peaks and movements intact. Much like the outstanding Harmony in the Ultraviolet, it’s unhelpful to dissect this album into segments, though titles like “Sea of Pulses,” “Paragon Point,” and “Currents of Electrostasy” are evocative enough at capturing the natural forces coursing through the work. Abstracted yet curiously cartographical, it offers a glimpse of a breath-arresting vista in a new world of sound.
Yeah, I’m down for that.
The Antlers, Hospice: Getting all blog-buzzy, Hospice sits in a unique midpoint: plenty of Talk Talk and Mark Hollis — arty and airy — but also just a hint of The Bends, too. (Joe and I saw them live last week, and that latter part came through in a big way.) I haven’t spent real close time with this yet, but I will soon. This definitely feels like an eMusic favorite, though.
John Eliot Gardiner, Brahms Symphony No. 2: We all know I am not the person to talk about this new performance, but I have been assured that a) it is great and b) it is a very big deal.
Reykjavik!, The Blood: Lest you think all Icelandic music is sprites and singer-songwriters we have Reykjavik!’s new one. They are an extremely aggressive band by Icelandic standards; probably the closest analogue would be International Noise Conspiracy with a bit of the Refused post-hardcore stuff in there, too. Joe swears by this record.
Kode 9, Black Sun & Horsepower Productions, Kingstep: Two new dubstep singles from big-timers. Haven’t listened yet, but will.
Tenniscoats, Temporacha: I really like this. Basically little minimalist, modern-classical vignettes. Totally my bag.
I really, really like the Reykjavik! record. I played a song from it on my most recent EVR show. It is crazy scuzzy and aggro and really, really good.
Just based on the samples (waiting to reload) the Hecker might be the best album of the last 5 years…made my day.
For Israeli users (there are some around) some heavy stuff for your own Israeli gravitation in emu.
Some Ofer Levi, Lea Shabat, Moshik Affia and others from Adama label have been added and landed the last couple of days.
And in the israel-berlin indie scene – Hamuchtar has put five 5 of his albums online this week on emu as well. This might be also interesting on an international level. Check out his not so cool face:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MY__8sGNBk
And don’t forget to use your minutes (and Boosters) wisely:
http://www.emusic.com/album/Willie-Jolley-62-Best-of-the-Best-Motivational-Minutes-MP3-Download/11403121.html
Wasn’t super into the Hecker on first listen (I LOVED Harmony), but I will absolutely listen more. He’s earned my repeated listens.
Super super into the Tenniscoats. There were also a ton of dance singles that came in (primarily through Poker Flat). Too much to go through. Start with Steve Bug, if yr interested.
Clearly I say “super into” a lot. Whoops.
Thanks for pointing out the dubstep stuff.
I don’t know what the rest of the piece sounds like, but the 30-second sample for Hecker’s daily DL today literally sounds like someone has fallen asleep and slumped onto his Korg.