Cam

Time to Rewind

cambler — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:00:19 +0000

It’s been a week revisiting my teenage vinyl collection and soaking in their still warm goodness. So much of this stuff turned me on to what “music” could be, in all it’s wonderful variation and opposition.

Caberet Voltaire - “2×45″. This must be heard on vinyl. I bought this in Hong Kong when I was a teenager after being turned onto to the Cabs through their “Drinking Gasoline” ep (a later release) and wonderful accompanying videos. I didn’t expect this album at all. Truly has a sound of it’s own, like a kind of ether infused disco somewhere in a war-zone. “Yashar” is shifting to say the least. One of the pivotal bands in my musical upbringing.
Severed Heads - “Come Visit the Big Bigot” (Buy at iTunes). This album rarely left my turntable an for me was the pivotal severed heads album in a strange way. For me it was the ultimate marriage of their surreal fever induced micro madness and something akin to pop music. But it was a take on pop music that only they could get anywhere near. The sound was dense yet discreet, broad yet close. I stand by the statement that this album contains on of the best bass lines in history on the track “Come Visit The Big Bigot” - this track still sends chills up my spine. Go to http://www.sevcom.com/item-bigot.html and listen then buy this album. Definitely an album that made me realise the edges of style and structure in music are invisible.
Joy Division - “Unknown Pleasures” (Buy at iTunes). Sure everyone that’s “cool” has this in their list, but this truly had an impact on me as a teenager. Music so stark but so full and ready to break at the same time. I will never lose the experience of camping in North West Australia as a teen, walking down a dirt track surrounded by the Australian bush listening to “Unknown Pleasures” on my walkman. It is truly uncanny how much that album speaks of the rich and inviting yet ultimately foreign nature of that landscape to me. A truly sublime moment.

Dreaming Myself Awake

cambler — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 16:58:00 +0000

Crazy weeks between this and the last post in the turntable. Of course amidst the craziness there was a number of single threads that wove a line of sense and calm in front of me. It seems the term ambient is a difficult one used to describe such a vast array of music. Of much of the music I listen to that would be considered ambient, I tend to think of it in terms that sit in opposition to the notion of ambiance. So much “ambient” music is really about singularity and focus. A kind of musical determinism that often requires peripheral focus by the listener. It has often been the case for me that this sort of singularity and determinism is a wonderful accompaniment to mental work (I doubt it would raise productivity levels pumped through loudspeakers at the mine site though). Which leads me to this weeks Turntable post - ambient music to think by.

The Dead Texan - “The Dead Texan” (Buy at iTunes) : An absolute must have album. I dare say this is my favourite ambient release in the last two years. Any artists who can create a track called “Glen’s Goo” and still almost bring you to tears is going to say in my book forever. This sounds to me like a wonderful distillation of some of the work of “Stars of the Lid” and some of the gentler moments of the “big name, big member” Canadian post rock bands, but in so many ways it’s so much more. Please buy and listen to this album - sad and joyous and impressing.
Fovea Hex - “Bloom” : Bloom finds Fovea Hex collaborating with Brian Eno, Roger Eno and Andrew McKenzie (Hafler Trio), Carter Burwell (Fargo Soundtrack, Being John Malkovich Soundtrack). And what a sublime collaboration it is. The long slow familiar tones brought to the mix by Eno and Burwell make a bed for the haunting vocals of Fovea Hex. On the first listen this may throw you, but as with any album that second adn third listen will pay dividends as the albums sense and beauty begin to unfold. This is ambient folk music at it’s finest.
Loscil - “Plume” (Buy at iTunes) : Following the Loscil continuum, Plume manages to be both an exercise on honing their magical submersed dub sounds and compositions as well as a hidden step forward. This album feels like a thousand tiny gas filled ants floating through space only to gently burst minutes after their birth and it would be sad if it wasn’t so dreamy and beautiful. Loscil are about the simultaneous twin dynamics of suspension and movement.

Sunday Music on Monday, Tuesday, Wed……..

cambler — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 16:53:52 +0000

Some music is Sunday music. I don’t know why. It’s something to do with that feeling of melancholic inevitability that there is no more temporal padding to the clunk and whir cycle of another working week. Some music seems to allow you to wallow in that soft and agreeing, down yet “moving right along” (thanks Wayne!) feeling. But why limit it to Sunday? How could one possibly conceive of being so selfish? So for all you, “I want Sunday every day” types, here’s a list of songs that’ll help you live the dream.

Joy Zipper - “Dosed and Became Invisible” (Buy at iTunes)
Macha and Bedhead - “Hey Goodbye” (Buy at iTunes)
Keren Anne - “One Day Without” (Buy at iTunes)
Slowdive - “Souvlaki Space Station” (Buy at iTunes)
Talk Talk - “After the Flood” (Buy at iTunes)
Tape - “Golden Twig”
Wayne Harriss - “Fairweather and the Plimsol Line” (Buy at iTunes)
Low - “Tonight” (Buy at iTunes)
Lilys - “The Night Sun Over San Juan” (Buy at iTunes)
A.R. Kane - “Spermwhale Trip is Over”(Buy at iTunes)

Invisible Films Imix

cambler — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 03:02:28 +0000

Ambient Rock Imix

cambler — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 02:47:37 +0000

3 Recent Albums I Wanted to Like but Didn’t.

cambler — Mon, 15 May 2006 10:04:41 +0000

“Stay Afraid” by Parts and Labour - Great ass tearing sound (sublime in parts), but it’s like they needed a songwriter in the mix. An obvious time to nod to MBV here who developed a sumptious and unique sound and married that with great pop songs - unbeatable combination for my ears. Maybe these boys will get there - hope so!
“The Back Room” by Editors - Hmm I don’t think Interpol do Interpol well enough most of the time. The big draw for me towards Interpol and related sounders was always the slight or overt refference to Joy Division, but to regain that intensely alien yet knowable solitude and lonliness that exuded from Joy Division records is a harder thing to pull off than one may think. A fine line that when it finds one failing, drops them into the pit of self absorbed boredom.
“Hand Cranked” by Bibio - Bibio’s first album, “Fi” was a gorgeous slither of golden opium laced nostalgia. Undeniable winks to Boards of Canada (or vice a versa?) in terms of the tripped up narcoleptic dreaminess. Sadly this one has lost most of that for me, whilst sounding uncannily similar. I will continue to re-listen in case I am missing something (it’s happened before!).

This Weeks Ear Food

cambler — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 15:50:06 +0000

Animal Collective - “Feels”
Boards of Canada - “Campfire Headphase”
Michael Morely - The Fuckchairs
Deerhoof - “The Runners Four”
Kompakt Various Artists - “Pop Ambient 2006″