Council Meeting Memo #093 — Five for Friday
Amosphère: Cosmogonical Ears (Hallowed Ground, Album)
Amosphère aka Parisian based artist Amo Vaccaria had a pretty decent stab at inward looking ambient on 2022’s cheerfully titled ‘More die of heartbreak’. Where deeply electronic tones and pulses were let out to play in a spacious environment. Especially on pieces like ‘Anti Insomnia’ which had a lovely Radiophonic vibe to it. Here the shift is tonally darker and expansive. Three long pieces of drone, pierced by flute and bass clarinet, all drenched in melancholy. SA 🇵🇸
Various Artists: Gost Zvuk 10 Years (ГОСТ ЗВУК, Compilation)
I’m barely 3 tracks into this compilation from crazy Moscow motherfuckers Gost Zvuk and I know I’m in unsafe hands. If you’re aren’t up to speed with this label, then please do so. Alongside Canada’s PIN / Doo / Active Press axis, this lot are really nailing it when it comes to advancements in house and techno. Plus I love tracks that contain Cyrillic characters in them, just looks so futuristic. Buy on sight. SA 🇵🇸
Zero Key / Selfsame / Externalism / Iri.gram (False Aralia, EP’s)
Four EP’s here, two came out last year and two this year. Allegedly from different artists, but I suspect that’s not the case. Label is an offshoot of Peak Oil from Los Angeles, home to the likes of Chicago’s Purelink and Topdown Dialectic so expect more of the same. Which is a modern retelling of dub music. Beatless for the most part but loaded with rhythm. Disembodied vocals expands its appeal and adds a layer of intimacy. My picks….‘Zero Key 03’ (hypnoloops), ‘Selfsame 02’ (bangin!), ‘Selfsame 04b’ (bouncyhouse). SA 🇵🇸
Siavash Amini: Caligo (Room40, Album)
// tense strings obliterated by crashing white noise ^ echoing footsteps \^/ droplets of cavern waters \ a lot happening, much of it tactile | brief passages blurred by distance and or time / hazy orchestras adrift in irradiated landscapes /~\ electrical discharges: humming, roaring, hissing, reverberating ‘’’’ the Zone’s outer reaches: pensive, uncertain, expectant //
{Music by Siavash Amini based on early Iranian solo piano recordings} CB🇵🇸
Beiggja: Morning (Hubro, Album)
My modus operandi for writing about releases is to listen to the music first, try to make sense of it, think about how it might be different or generic and narrate that in various ways in the final review. In the same way, I never read introductions to novels until the end. It’s difficult though, sometimes music is just music, why write about it? I guess because Sheikh sent me a ton of emails from record companies, so:
This is Scandinavian (and Dutch) jazz performed by a quartet of piano, bass, drums and saxophone. It’s sensitively played, well recorded, melodic and pleasurable to listen to.
The press release adds nothing that you need to know. CB🇵🇸
