GHISLAIN POIRIER [CANADA]
cold as hell (feat. BEANS) mp3
civil disobedience mp3
my new adopted family of favourite artists (aka dj rupture, mutamassik et al) revolves around the sadly all-too rare exploration of international sounds (mostly eastern) and contemporary broken beat / hip hop / breakcore. ghislain poirier comes to the dinner table bearing forthcoming releases on the excellent shockout label, a mix in the back for rupture and this chocolate industries collaboration (from the e.p. ‘beats as politics’) with former anti-pop consortium member, beans. if bios are to be believed, poirier’s sound shifted into this arena after a long exploration in the colder regions of minimal techno – the CI release also features diverse (recently seen breaking bread with prefuse 73) and canadian rapper seba. [site + more mp3s]
ALEXANDROID [RUSSIA]
energy mp3
legal mp3s from russia are a rare commodity. from what i’ve read, electronica would seem to be the dominant emerging musical artform from the former soviet union. given that i’m prone to sweeping generalisations, it would seem that there’s something inspiring about cold climates that makes for beautiful electronic production. the scandanavians and the icelanders have it, makes perfect sense that moscovites would feel the same way. many thanks and kudos must go to ‘the wire’ magazine for posting an elexandroid track in their online mp3 archive. (go to thewire.co.uk for more treats from mf doom, anticon, autechre, coil, kid606 and more). ‘energy’ is taken from the russian’s new album ‘false starts’ on the uk’s lo recordings – a primer for his work to date, featuring a lush collection of sweeping electronica, downtempo, click house and dub. there’s a few off-topic moments on the album that point to a far wider repertoire – ‘dera’ uses a traditional violin sample to great effect, ‘debil’ similarly confounds stereotypes with its overlay of micro key stabs, muted trumpet and almost bossa-like rhythms. enough to keep those tiring of electronica-by-numbers more than happy.
THE TINY [SWEDEN]
closer mp3
much like public transport, you wait for seemingly an age, and everything comes at once – here’s the second outstanding new band from sweden in as many posts. a three piece from stockholm, the tiny digest all that is bold and beautiful about smoky, torch-song jazz and refract it through a lens that’s been sitting in the pockets of bjork or kate bush. vocalist / pianist and writer, ellekari, onces more takes a seemingly familiar skewed vocal technique into new territories, and essentially proves what we always suspected – incredible though such vocals are, they are best displayed to their advantage in the jazz field. (for further proof, check out bjork’s mid-90s ‘jazz’n’folk’ album, gling glo). the tiny‘s debut, ‘close enough’, is out now – more info at thetiny.net.
TYCHO [US: CALIFORNIA]
dictaphone’s lament mp3
in the end mp3
finally today, a belated thanks to californian producer, scott hansen (aka tycho), for getting in touch with fat planet and forwarding a copy of his album. i first came across him on better propaganda, where they housed the stunning track ‘dictaphone’s lament’ – so it was a pleasant surprise to hear from scott directly. i’m a sucker for boards of canada, and to make a favourable comparison is admittedly a little lazy (and undoubtedly overused), but it’s still richly deserved. tycho‘s 13-track debut album ‘sunrise projector’ proves that there is still scope for delivering electronic production that houses warm, emotional currents. comparisons aside, the album ups the ante on a few key tracks – the dub refrains, accoustic guitar and snatches of ghost vocal in the two jianda collaborations ‘send and receive’ and ‘a circular re-education’ point to a more singular style and hansen drafts in regular collaborator, chachi jones, for a beautiful closing track. if you do one good thing today, buy this album. [site]