Utility Fog

Sunday, 22nd of March, 2015

Selection of noise, strings with electronics, folk guitar and subdued post-punk electronic... yeah that makes sense.

LISTEN AGAIN or just LISTEN, over here or stream via FBi.

Starting tonight with some music from Brisbane's Benjamin Thompson, who ended last week's show as well. Having been a member of The Rational Academy for years, he's got plenty cred in the indie/indietronic/noise/experimental electronics world already. But under his Pale Earth moniker he's releasing some of his most exciting music yet - electronic music unfettered by genre concerns.
Last year he also put out a release with Ian Rogers of No Anchor on the sadly defunct Wood and Wire label as Black Pines. It's a shouty mix of hardcore and noise, fierce and sparse.

Dutch producer Michel Banabila & violist Oene van Geel have just released their second album of gorgeous experimental electronics and viola. Van Geel first came upon my radar with another Banabila collaboration, the lovely Cloud Ensemble from earlier last year, with world-influenced beats and instruments and vocals from all n4tural. The first Music for viola and electronics was strictly van Geel's viola improvisations & compositions with Banabila's electronics by turn lush and abrasive. The new one follows the same sonic path but adds further instrumentation: bass clarinet, cello, trumpet, drums (see link below for full lineup). It's not all experimental modular electronics & extended techniques, but nor is it all lush world beats & string melodies - it strikes a nice balance. They've both stayed on my virtual turntable a lot recently.

Brisbane's Chris Perren is one talented individual, with a musical pedigree that crosses from classical training in composition and guitar through math rock bands and glitchy electronic cut-ups to post-classical meets postrock. His new release is under the name Software of Seagulls from Sydney's beloved Feral Media label, a longtime collaborator with him. Our first track features a beautiful electric violin performance from Fern Thompsett, while there are also bits of folktronica and his other interests across the new album. We also heard something from his rare first solo recording, and an unreleased remix of my own band FourPlay String Quartet (from a frequently-delayed remix album that needs to get out there soon...) Chris's post-classical/postrock group Nonsemble released a single last year on respected British label Bigo & Twigetti, with an album due out this year.

Tomkins Square Records have been releasing extraordinary compilations of fingerstyle guitar - all solo finger-picked guitar - for 10 years now. It's a style which has had experimentalism at its core for decades, with John Fahey as one of its American figureheads and second-wave pioneers. A decade later, the latest album is compiled by young guitarist Hayden Pedigo and features some great new artists as well as some legends like Simon Scott of shoegazers Slowdive. We heard a lovely almost-shoegazey track from Michael Vallera and something from adventurous Portuguese guitarist Norberto Lobo. In between, a beauty of fingerpicked guitar and delays from Greg Davis (make some more music, Greg!).

Finishing up with some new music from the prolific Aidan Baker, one half of heavy dreamy doom duo Nadja. Here he gives us quiet, whispery songs with clear-toned electric guitar over a glitchy backdrop of noises produced from an unfortunate but serendipitous hard disk crash. It's immersive music that slowly unfolds in your mind - small grabs might seem monotone, but the songs have patient shapes that reward your attention.

Pale Earth - Racey Leopard [Pale Earth Bandcamp]
Pale Earth - Mia [ROOM40]
Black Pines - Die Out [Wood and Wire]
Pale Earth - Duo [Pale Earth Bandcamp]
Michel Banabila & Oene van Geel - Vleugels [Tapu]
Cloud Ensemble - Hide and Seek [Tapu]
Michel Banabila & Oene van Geel - Dondergod [Tapu]
Michel Banabila & Oene van Geel - Chaos [Tapu]
Software of Seagulls - Redundant Array of Independent Worlds [Feral Media]
Chris Perren - A New Logic [self-released]
Mr. Maps - Your Heels in Sand, Soul in Pursuit (original version) [Lofly]
Nonsemble - Go Part 3c [Bigo & Twigetti]
FourPlay String Quartet - Now To The Future (Chris Perren remix) [unreleased]
Software of Seagulls - Adelaide St. [Feral Media]
Michael Vallera - USA Self [Tompkins Square Records]
Greg Davis - Sleep Architecture [Tompkins Square Records]
Norberto Lobo - Enchiridion [Tompkins Square Records]
Aidan Baker - Hart [Pleasence Records/Aidan Baker Bandcamp]
Aidan Baker - Something Less [Pleasence Records/Aidan Baker Bandcamp]

Listen again — ~105MB

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