Sunday, April 30, 2006

Music Recommendations from the PLI #3


Sorry for the low profile, I'm back to blogging.

1) Fe-mail - Blixter Toad

Members of the fabulous band Spunk, (check out their latest on Rune Grammofon called En Aldeles Forferdelig Sykdom), Maja (don't call me the other crazy electronic lady from Iceland) Rathje and Hild Sofie Tafjord, release a volatile, kinetic, 2 disc potential masterpiece. This record bumps, bounces and squiggles more than it ever ends up in the all too common lately cloudy drone (I know I have been guilty of this in the past with my work). Maja Rathje is making some of the most creative and exciting work in the area of laptop music and just her work with her own voice is worthy of more attention beyond the experimental music press. When I first purchased this disc my initial fear was that it would be overlong, a common mistake among electronic musicians, (I know, I know) but Fe-mail really know how to keep it interesting. When the events are spare you have the opportunity to hear the scheer oddness of their material, when the events get dense, it builds a massive structure that feels like shards of something sharp buit into a house of cards. A great, great record.

2) Miles Davis - The Complete Cellar Door Sessions

By 1970 Mile Davis has made some of best music of this past century. I know that's a big statement, that is highly subjective, but keep in mind people said that Jerry Garcia would be revered like the Bach or Mozart of the 20th century. These people need either better drugs or a copy of Bitch's Brew. Anyway, getting back to Miles in the 70's, he had just come off of releasing In A Silent Way, Bitch's Brew and Big Fun and the sound he was developing here would later turn into On The Corner. With this set, we get to hear 6 sets from six nights at the Cellar Door. At this point Miles was recording every show. These performances are far from the misty nocturnal cool of In A Silent Way. These sets are aggressive, and funky. Miles' second great electric group are in top form and, this isn't even the full story, as they only choose one of the two sets performed each night for this boxset. You can never go wrong with any Miles Davis recording from this period and these boxsets are like finding that you favorite film was really 6 hours longer and just as good for those extra six hours.

3) Keith Fullerton Whitman - Lisbon

This the first of KFW's records recorded under his own name that I can say is close to this level of greatness. I loved his work as Hrvatski,but I see that that work is fairly obselete now and that his direction under his own name is clearly were he wants to be heading. What makes Lisbon work so well is that he now seems to understand to give his work a much more interesting dynamic. The tonal workouts on Playthroughs felt so static, lacking the shifts that make work like his pal Greg Davis's Somnia so involving. I read in a review that he did not put this work through a long process of editing and gestation and I feel like that was an enormous help to him. This record is a triumph in that it's one long piece that is uplifting in both an emotional abd physical sense.. He achieves that "room is lifting" feeling like a live Double Leopards show. It's never hurried, and it's never dull. It at times reminds of what a long form electronic piece can do, like Le Legende D'Er. It's in one shot, the very best ideas he's had, collected into the very best piece he's done. Whatever this long process of editing is that you do, Keith, stop it!

// posted by Bill @ 10:44 AM  
Comments:
Hi!

Thanks for kind words on Fe-mail's new album!
Just wanted to let you know that I'm from Norway, and so is Hild the other girl in Fe-mail. It's not the first time I hear anyone draw a connection to that famous Lady of Iceland, but mostly done by journalists who haven't heard much use of voice in "strange" ways before and have no one else to refer to.

Have a nice day!

Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje
# posted by maja : 1:00 PM
 
Maja,

Sorry for the cliche comparison. Also, I apologize for accusing you (and Hild) of being from Iceland, as it is much cooler (no pun intended) to be from Norway.
The main reason for my comment was meant to compare your voice work to Bjork's voice work on Medulla and you work's clear and utter superiority.

Thanks so much for checking out our site, and I will do better to avoid music journalistic writing cliches. How about comapring your band to Burzum?

wb
# posted by Bill : 6:40 AM
 
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