Utility Fog

Sunday, 15th of January, 2012

Tonight, a few highlights from Sydney Festival, a stack more awesome 2011 tunes, and some new 2012 releases already!
As usual, listen again via the link at the bottom, the podcast (which I've updated properly this week!) and on demand streaming.

I haven't been writing up the "best of 2011" posts, mainly because it's exhausting, and also because I am shortly going to do a big best-of post. So tonight I'll talk mainly about the new stuff.

I started with some ancient music, but a new recording. Taraf de Haïdouks & Kočani Orkestar are two wonderful gypsy bands from eastern Europe — Taraf are a much-loved band of Romanian gypsies featuring violins, piano accordions, double bass, guitars and cimbalom, who, gypsy-style, have toured the world for many years with their incredible shows, after which they are guaranteed to be found outside the venue continuing to ply their trade, playing brilliantly while passing around the hat. Kočani are slightly younger, a brass band who now have a few even younger musicians who seem to know their jazz and Cuban music too. They have a fantastic groove, but can also play beautiful ballads with sustained notes and virtuosic melodicism. When the two groups team up together it's a true gypsy supergroup, and their show at the Enmore Theatre on Thursday was spectacular.

Goth-Trad is Japan's original dubstep maestro, very much a mainstay in the central UK scene now, and his new album is an instant winner. The beats are a bit more towards the 4/4 and a bit faster now, and with a whole album to play with, he's able to slip in some less dancefloor-oriented, quite complex pieces as well.

Next newie is from The Boats, beloved folktronic act descended from Hood via The Remote Viewer... Their new album is made up of four 10 minute tracks, each a little journey in itself — the one we heard tonight moved from shoegazey ambience into a electronic minimalist featuring regular collaborator Danny Norbury on cello, and then a striking switch with minor synth chords and a beat dropping for the last 3rd. It's an album worth immersing yourself in.

I unfortunately only received the "new" album from Ekca Liena as I was piecing together the best-of-2011 shows, so I've only just gotten around to playing it. It's actually a 2008 release, re-released in 2011 with a bonus disc of remixes and covers. The album proper is tremendous, the equal of 2011 favourites by Simon Scott and Damian Valles, and similar in scope: broadly based around the drone/ambient sound world, but with plenty of postrock and electronic elements. The bonus disc does not disappoint, and we'll be hearing more from it in coming weeks. Tonight I chose Nick Hudson's second version, adding vocals to an originally instrumental track, while keeping the chord structure and, remarkably, the feel of the original.

Sydney improvising string quartet The Noise are playing a gig in the beautiful surrounds of Warehouse 15 on Cockatoo Island this Wednesday (Facebook event here). They're quite happy making abstract improvisations, but also descriptive pieces, such as tonight's "Moths".

Another Sydney act with a classical connection, Mannheim Rocket makes Bass music with (usually unrecognizable) samples from classical music. He's playing with two other Sydney electronic acts at a gallery space called The Newsagency on Enmore Rd on Friday the 27th - Facebook event here.

As well as a couple of the Sydney Festival acts coming up this week, and some more highlights from 2011, I played two tracks from days of yore, as I've had the luxury of listening through some older stuff while new releases die down over this period. I had a stack of compilations playlisted up, and came across some tunes from 1996 that deserved airplay. From the second of Kevin Martin's amazing Macro Dub Infection 2CD compilations, Ice (featuring both Martin and his ex-Napalm Death bandmate Justin K Broadrick) are pitted against Palace (aka Will Oldham of course), in that perfect crossover realm of heavy, noisy dub beats and howling yet delicate country vocals. And two relatively unknown artists Ragga + The Pylon King pair up for the second in Lo Recordings' legendary compilation series, entitled Collaborations.

Taraf de Haïdouks & Kočani Orkestar - Talk To Me, Duʂo [Crammed Discs]
Goth-Trad - Man In The Maze [P-Vine/Deep Medi]
Goth-Trad - Strangers [P-Vine/Deep Medi]
downliners sekt - negative green [free download from d-sekt.com]
downliners sekt - hockey nights in canada [free download from d-sekt.com]
y0t0 - Uriarra Crossing Mirror Condensation (Downliners Sekt remix) [fac-ture]
The Boats - The Ballad For Achievement [12k]
Ekca Liena - Fire Emerging From Mist [Dead Pilot]
Ekca Liena - Reverse Erasing (Cover Two by Nick Hudson) [Dead Pilot]
Ekca Liena - Reverse Erasing [Dead Pilot]
The Magic I.D. - Mambo [Staubgold]
The Noise - Moths [self-released]
Scissors and Sellotape - A simple 'I know how you feel' [Facture]
vieo abiungo - while the others sleep (part timer’s upbeat remix) [Lost Tribe Sound] {unreleased, Utility Fog exclusive!}
Luke Killen - Scamper Ashore [available from SoundCloud]
Mannheim Rocket - Opperdorff [unreleased]
kangding ray - Mojave [raster-noton]
the fun years - Cornelia Amygdaloid [Ghostly International]
Sole & the SkyRider Band - We Will Not Be Moved (feat. Ceschi & Noah23) [Fake Four/Equinox Records]
Sole & the SkyRider Band - Infanticide (feat. Alexandrah of Solillaquists of Sound) [Fake Four]
Ice vs Palace - More Brother (Inbred Version) [Virgin]
Ragga + The Pylon King - St Christophers dream (mask mix) [Lo Recordings]
Julianna Barwick - Prizewinning [Asthmatic Kitty/Mistletone]
Sam Amidon - Rain And Snow [Bedroom Community]
Seekae - Go [Rice is Nice]
Seekae - 3 [Rice is Nice]

Listen again — ~ 164MB

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