For a long time, the tag “drum’n’bass” had negative associations for me. It felt like the more polite and polished cousin of jungle, and who wants that? In the late nineties, in particular, there were a bunch of dinner-party-friendly albums in the genre, and my youthful spirit rebelled against such things. Well, that was a […]
Tag: year_2023
When this came out in the summer, the first proper new Aphex material in five years, I had a weird mix of emotions: excitement, nervousness (in case it was shit), and an oddly conflicted feeling because I identify as an Aphex fan, but to be honest have been kind of ambivalent about everything since Syro, […]
I loved Solas when it came out seven years ago. I think it was a small milepost in the evolution of my listening habits. I still love it. I’m pleased to report that this album is differently but equally great. We’re still basically in the territory of church-organ-forward classical drone. But where much (though by […]
This work is based around samples of a Giuseppi Verdi opera called La Forza Del Destino (The Force Of Destiny). I’ve never heard of it, although I’ve heard enough Verdi opera to be pretty sure it wouldn’t be my cup of tea, even though there is apparently a superstition that it’s cursed. (My father likes […]
This one kind of sneaked up on me. The first time I played it, my initial reaction was to wonder what all the fuss was about. I let it play while I got on with something else. But it slowly drew me in, and well before the end of its 78 minutes I was transfixed. […]
David Double O (co-founder of and DJ at the Rupture nights at London’s treasured Corsica Rooms) recently defined jungle as “dub with breaks”. Which I found interesting, ‘cos I’d already noticed that this is exactly what it is in his hands. This record gives you 72 minutes of laid-back clattering breaks, clanking echoey dub noises, […]
I guess that there’s a case to be made that a collection of (loosely speaking) avant-/psych-/drone-folk covers of the soundtrack to The Wicker Man is a bit of a niche endeavour. But if your ears pricked up at that description, then I urge you to go seek this record out, ‘cos it’s cracking good stuff. […]
Sometimes, a big slab of industrial techno seems to really hit the spot with me. Stately in tempo, foreboding in tone, and portentous in track-title, this record ticks all the boxes. It’s also excellently produced, and full of catchy melodies and little details to keep your attention. If tracks like Temple of Hera don’t get […]
The only Rrose record I actually owned before this one was their version of James Tenney’s Having Never Written A Note For Percussion, in which they played a single note on a gong for 27 minutes — first quietly, then loudly, then quietly again. And then did it again on the B-side. It was an […]
I had an odd moment when the first track here, Tale Of Devotion, started playing: it sounds uncannily like Jane Weaver covering I Feel Love. Which is not a bad thing, just a hard thought to get out of your head. The next track, Only For Tonight, is rather different: if we’re playing the likenesses […]
dogrando writes about some records 