Sounds from Innerspace

innerspaceboy · 12-15-2016, 04:23 PM

Just arrived from Ann Arbor's Ghostly International label - the sky blue limited edition reissue of Telefon Tel Aviv's majestic debut, Fahrenheit Fair Enough.*Fahrenheit*was originally issued by Chicago's Hefty Records, and fit smashingly alongside their other downtempo and IDM recordings.*

Ghostly International is home to Tycho, Gold Panda, Com Truise, and other crafters of what*Sundae*Club playfully dubbed*"Technostalgic*Tunes". And*Fahrenheit*is no exception. Here, Telefon Tel Aviv expertly*weaves*together sparse melodic fragments and the occasional jazzy licks with intricately complex abstract glitch patterns. What results is a marriage of the warm, nostalgic instrumentation one would expect from a band like Boards of Canada seamlessly fused with the atonal mechanical rhythmic constructions of Richard D. James.*It is a wonderfully satisfying record which*warrants repeated listenings both active and subliminal.*

This limited edition release also includes a digital download which features additional*Archive '99*material capturing more of the best sounds the artist has to offer.

A review from the BBC called the album,*"Gorgeous, yet completely devoid of cliché... a quiet, unpretentious beauty of a record."*Fahrenheit Fair Enough is certainly some of the finest downtempo IDM music released this year.

innerspaceboy · 12-17-2016, 05:03 PM

Aim: To better acquaint myself with drone-like and ambient music staples of the rock idiom. These albums were often characterized by monorhythmic percussion, heavily layered instrumentation, and supersaturated guitar effects. Vocals were routinely deadpan with lyricism lost amidst waves of guitar feedback (in the case of male vocals), or, in the case of female singers, presented as ethereal musings transcending language and literal interpretation. Key genres include shoegaze, space rock, noise rock, and selections of post-punk and minimal/no wave. This strong ambient quality makes shoegaze a sensible bridge from my more familiar territories of The Berlin School and 20th-century classical musics into the less-familiar realms of rock and pop. The largest deterrent I’ve encountered in rock is the egocentrism and hypersexualization of the iconic rocker “frontman” and I hope that through the heroin-inspired apathy and social disconnectedness of shoegaze that I can find a more amiable listening experience.

Albums will be surveyed in their entirety, as these are not genres built of hit singles, but instead of album-length works created in the spirit of “taking drugs to make music to take drugs to.” My explorative starting point will be The Scientist’s Shoegaze volume of RYM’s Ultimate Box Set series, which offers a chronology of shoegaze, beginning with Cocteau Twin’s ethereal masterpiece, Treasure from 1984.

Further listening suggestions are welcome.

The Batlord · 12-17-2016, 08:30 PM

If you're looking for rock for ambient nerds then maybe drone metal or some forms of doom metal might help. That **** is about as far from rockstar **** as it's possible to get. Lot of it doesn't have vocals either. *shrug*

Earth - "Seven Angels"

innerspaceboy · 12-17-2016, 09:05 PM

[QUOTE=The Batlord;1784386]If you're looking for rock for ambient nerds then maybe drone metal or some forms of doom metal might help. That **** is about as far from rockstar **** as it's possible to get. Lot of it doesn't have vocals either. *shrug*

Thanks, Batty. Earth 2 is definitely the gateway drug of drone metal, or at least the most accessible specimen of the genre to the best of my knowledge. I've approached it a few times but it hasn't grabbed me yet. I'll give the others you've linked a listen as well. And thanks for reading!

The Batlord · 12-18-2016, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

Thanks, Batty. Earth 2 is definitely the gateway drug of drone metal, or at least the most accessible specimen of the genre to the best of my knowledge. I've approached it a few times but it hasn't grabbed me yet. I'll give the others you've linked a listen as well. And thanks for reading!

Yeah, early Earth is kind of sparse and no frills, but the other **** I put up has all the tempo with extra **** thrown in to grab your attention. I can only listen to Earth when I'm in a certain mood, but Bongripper and Ufomammut are anyday kind of bands.

Mondo Bungle · 12-17-2016, 11:13 PM

Do you know this https://www.discogs.com/Other-Music-...elease/1989363

innerspaceboy · 12-18-2016, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mondo Bungle

Do you know this https://www.discogs.com/Other-Music-...elease/1989363

Fantastic! Right up my alley - thank you!

Mondo Bungle · 12-18-2016, 03:37 PM

I've known that album and been about it for so long, but I have no idea when and how that came to be

innerspaceboy · 12-18-2016, 03:49 PM

Wolfgang Voigt's Gas Box 10LP +4CD set has just arrived. Of Voigt's*countless one-off side project monikers, it is his work as Gas which has gained the most critical acclaim. And for good reason - this is some of the finest dark ambient minimal techno you could ever hope to find. And after sixteen years of various abridged and modified reissues, Voigt has presented the albums Zauberberg,*Königsforst, and Pop in their entirety, along with a bonus disc featuring "Tal 90", (previously released in Various - Pop Ambient 2002) and "Oktember*B" from the Oktember EP from 1999.

The set is housed in a sturdy slipcase with embossed jackets for each release.*The discs are contained in glossy black paper sleeves with GAS logo printed on both sides. The accompanying hardcover 12" x 12" art book with digital images of the Königsforst also contains four CDs of the music from the set.

Inspired by Voigt's youthful LSD experiences in the Königsforst (a German forest situated near his hometown of Köln), served as the inspiration behind these releases. Voigt claimed that he wanted to "bring the forest to the disco, or vice-versa".

Wikipedia offers an excellent description of the Gas sound:

Quote:

Each album consisting of several long tracks of dense, hypnotic, atmospheric sound. All Gas material shares a characteristic sound, consisting of an ambient wash of drones and loops, usually accompanied by a repetitive four-on-the-floor kick drum underneath the multiple layers of music. Occasionally a song will just drift on its own ambience.

Indeed, most of the time there is no clear musical progression in a Gas track, as Voigt seems to be more interested in exploring depth of the stereo field, utilizing subtle shifts in sound. Because music under the Gas alias lacks any trace of orthodox melody or chord change many would not describe it as musical. However, the sources of Voigt's samples are often of musical origin, encapsulating "old pop record stuff" as well as classical music such as Richard Wagner and Arnold Schoenberg.

It also notes that critics have described Gas music as, "similar to hearing a band playing very far away, underwater, or from behind walls." By any measure, this is a milestone ambient box set and an essential piece of any ambient record collection.

Ninetales · 12-18-2016, 03:56 PM

ahhhh was going to ask you if got that. I am super jealous. wish it included his first album as well, which is for whatever reason underappreciated.

12-18-2016, 03:56 PM	#10 (permalink)
Ninetales Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: livin wild Posts: 2,179	ahhhh was going to ask you if got that. I am super jealous. wish it included his first album as well, which is for whatever reason underappreciated.