Though only part of a multi-disciplinary performance that included text and video, Samuel Sighicelli’s music from Marée Noire doesn’t suffer from any absence. The French title, translating as “Black Sea,” refers to both the literal and metaphoric ocean of oil we’ve become trapped in. Sighicelli’s background is split between classical piano and electro acoustic composition, and he uses both here in creating a narrative that is initially menacing, with electronic pulses and squelching of shortwave cut against disembodied voices that are both man and gull, at times. When they come in “Immensité Des Villes,” the musical elements act both as more organised pressures and the emotional points and counterpoints of melancholy and fear. The latter is highly evident in “Les Grand Déserts Convoités,” where French improvising bassist Bruno Chevillon lends a hand digging a deeper well into the bleak landscape. “Les Naufrages” is the key piece, which pulls the neat trick of mutating from movie theme to movie itself. Sighicelli is from a young and exciting new breed of electro acoustic artists who are not afraid to engage their audience on a less intellectual, more gut level. Though the work is truly exciting on both planes. (D'Autres Cordes)
Arc -
Arkhangelsk 4257
Aidan Baker’s Nadja have been receiving more and more attention for their incredible fusion of metal, ambience and experimentation. Between his solo work and his doom-y Nadja project, Baker’s racked up well over 20 recordings in the last year. ARC, though, have been relatively less active. The “r”
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Shot x Shot -
Let Nature Square 2643
Philly’s Shot x Shot quartet delivered a striking debut a couple years back with their self-titled disc for High Two. Recorded in a hugely reverberant church, it showed the quartet reworking gritty free-bop into grandly overarching soundscapes. Their newest disc has more conventional acoustics but
...Read More
Classic Albums: Paranoid 3297 (Black Sabbath)
As is the case with any of the previous instalments in the Classic Albums series, Classic Albums: Paranoid is an hour-long investigation into what inspired, created and resulted from Black Sabbath's legendary 1970 sophomore opus. Breaking the album down into a track-by-track analysis...Full Review
Oval - O 110
Like a thirsty man discovering an oasis, Markus Popp follows a decade-long silence with an overflow of sound: a two-CD/70-track reboot of his Oval project. It turns out to be a miniature epic though, with only 15 pieces cracking the two-minute mark. For these, Popp turns out prepared guitar and...
Full Review
Eric Chenaux
There are many pleasant surprises on Eric Chenaux's latest album, Warm Weather with Ryan Driver, but the most striking is his use of a nylon-string guitar as his primary instrument for these achingly lovely songs....
Read More
Aidan Baker’s Nadja have been receiving more and more attention for their incredible fusion of metal, ambience and experimentation. Between his solo work and his doom-y Nadja project, Baker’s racked up well over 20 recordings in the last year. ARC, though, have been relatively less active. The “r”
...
Philly’s Shot x Shot quartet delivered a striking debut a couple years back with their self-titled disc for High Two. Recorded in a hugely reverberant church, it showed the quartet reworking gritty free-bop into grandly overarching soundscapes. Their newest disc has more conventional acoustics but
...
As is the case with any of the previous instalments in the Classic Albums series, Classic Albums: Paranoid is an hour-long investigation into what inspired, created and resulted from Black Sabbath's legendary 1970 sophomore opus. Breaking the album down into a track-by-track analysis...
Like a thirsty man discovering an oasis, Markus Popp follows a decade-long silence with an overflow of sound: a two-CD/70-track reboot of his Oval project. It turns out to be a miniature epic though, with only 15 pieces cracking the two-minute mark. For these, Popp turns out prepared guitar and...
There are many pleasant surprises on Eric Chenaux's latest album, Warm Weather with Ryan Driver, but the most striking is his use of a nylon-string guitar as his primary instrument for these achingly lovely songs....
