Mix / Chocolate Milk And Brandy April 2018

Attempting to recreate the golden yesterdays of Jose Padilla`s White Isle sunsets with the tunes of today.

Iury Lech – Barreras – Cocktail D`Amore

Electronics from Spain. Musica Para El Fin De Los Cantos was originally released on Hyades Arts in 1990. The label also responsible for El Sueño De Hyparco`s Ambientes Hormonales. Cocktail D`Amore reissued this last September. The copies disappeared from shops instantly. Fortunately, for me at least, it`s now got a repress.

Music that ripples, reflective. Like a lover`s hand trailing currents from a Cambridge punt. Creates vapour-like atmospheres, echoing in a shallow bay of Cocteau Twins reverb. Keys sent in spirals. Overlapping in Reich-ian Minimalism. Tripping in delay. The tone more Shoegaze than Modern Classical. Chapterhouse, The Cocteaus – with or without Harold Budd, Slowdive, and the Pale Saints` cover of Lee Hazlewood`s Kinky Love.

Seb Wildblood – Interlude (D.K. Remix) – Omena

D.K.`s recreation of Summer tides from Seb Wildblood`s The One With The Emoticon E.P.

Erland Cooper – Aak – Phases

Erland Cooper`s Solan Goose is a set that finds the multi-instrumentalist evoking his childhood spent on the Scottish islands of Orkney. The tracks are named after birds, in the local tongue, and their cries sampled and used throughout the album. The music an attempt to transport himself out of the “sometimes really fucked up” (I`d have said often, or always) city and back to this rural haven.

Taking cues from Sir Peter Maxwell Davies own tribute to Orkney, Farewell To Stromness (from The Yellow Cake Revue), Erland`s compositions are dominated by his piano and Charlotte Greenhow`s soprano. The former conveying trouble and worry. The latter, hope and light, in the form of wordless lullabies. Greenhow also contributes violin. The instrument singing songs of love and sorrow. Without love, there can be no sorrow. Other players include Leo Abrahams on guitar. Aisling Brouwer, Neil Cowley, Jacob Downs, William Doyle, Anna Phoebe, and Hayden Thorpe. On assorted strings and percussion. Digital whispers. In its darkest places, the record recalls Max Richter`s score for Tom Hardy`s Taboo. In its lightest, Johann Johannsson`s theme from The Mercy. The project is accompanied by videos directed by Alex Kozobolis, and Erland plays live at St. Pancras Old Church in London on May 24th.

Joanne Forman – Meridian – Seance Centre

Joanne Forman`s Cave Vaults Of The Moon, forthcoming on Seance Centre, also revolves around soprano vocals. Duets that weave Folk tradition into the music`s New Age technique. The press release cites a mix of Iasos and The Wicker Man, and that`s pretty much spot on. The Taos, New Mexico-based composer utilising flute, guitar, harp, and synthesisers. Like Beverley Glenn-Copeland singing Willow`s Song, while trance-inducing sequences are sent racing. Both backwards and forwards. Alien orchestration sucked into reverb and delay. Amidst nods to Morricone scores (on Moon Castle I). Heroes making last stands, or riding off into the horizon as credits roll. Klezmer dances (Promeni I). Turning like a happy French cinematic chanson carousel (Promeni II). Six strings gently raining a la Finis Africae. The voices sometimes massed, like a distant gale. Or in ancestral harmony.

Group Listening – Maryan – PRAH

Stephen Black and Paul Jones` Simon Jeffes and Virginia Astley-inspired reworking of Robert Wyatt`s Maryan, from Clarinet & Piano: Selected Works Vol. 1.

Robert Wyatt – Maryan – Domino

I thought I`d put Wyatt`s beautiful original in here. From 1997`s Shleep. Reissued as an expanded double LP (with Amnesia favourite Te Recuerdo Amanda on there) by Domino in 2008. Graced by Philip Catherine`s guitar.

Gallo – Faron (Fabrizio Mammarella Remix) – Hell Yeah!

An E.P. from the Italy, via Berlin, Hell Yeah! family. “Chill Out” driven by sleepy, dream state, pitched-right-down drum machines. Upholstered with comforting cushions of swirling synths, subliminally skanking bass-lines, live bongos and brass fanfares. Featuring piano-playing designed to encourage thought and reflection, ideally while staring out at azure skies and sea.

Clandestino take Remember To Forget up to a hand-clapping House tempo. With kalimba-like patterns to match Len Leise`s Lingua Franca and D.K.`s Mystery Dub.

Fabrizio Mammarella reduces Faron`s rhythm to rainfall. A tropical shower. A sustained siren providing the backdrop to slowly emerging counterpoint. On a track that invokes both Manuel Gottsching`s E2-E4 and Big Boss Groove`s Snappiness.

N Kramer – It Has Never Worked Before – Feel Flows

One of the Pastoral Kosmishe pieces that bookend Endless. A really nice set of gently bubbling electronics sent to me by Niklas Kramer. Sine waves slowly twisting. Rhythms ticking and whirring. Gradually increasing in volume and intensity. Where synthesised strings and winds describe still, quiet landscapes. Other green worlds. The melodies recalling Roedelius, Harmonia, Cluster, and Eno. Triangle timbre-d Techno echoes. In places like Jeff Mills or Rob Hood with the kick removed. Elements concentrically circling one another. Like battling tops. Spinning in close, and then back out into orbit.

James Heather – MHope – Ahead Of Our Time

James Heather`s Stories From Far Away On Piano was one of my “Ambient” albums of last year. At that point his collection of solo piano works was only available digitally. It`s now getting a vinyl pressing, and James will also be be performing at St. Pancras Old Church on May 9th.