. | punktum

I just got home from a weekend+ in London, my fourth time there and still I haven’t managed to visit the Rough Trade music store, or the now reopened Sound 323. However I did pick out a few records from the HMW’s jazz selection: Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidananda, George Lewis’ Sequel and a new Rune Grammofon release from Bushman’s Revenge lovely titled You Lost Me at Hello. The latter two I am still to hear.

However it was something entirely different that bears the legacy from this trip. Florent, my friend Denise’s friends at whos house we stayed played me this eighties disco track to me from Sheryl Lee Ralph, and for the first time triggered my interest in this/these genres of this period.

After two days of intense youtubing I have found a lot of wonderful gems mostly with the help of one fantastic channel held by the guy under the Chicagomack1 moniker – he has a huge treasure chest that I am still not even halfway through. Here are a few teasers, enjoy and go look for yourselves.

Erik and I have this great tradition where we four times a year send each other a record that we hope is previously unheard to the other. It is usually hit or miss – but that is also the beauty of it.

Zu Carboniferous

Q1 in 2009 I have received “Carboniferous” by the group Zu. I was initially scared by noticing that it was issued by Mike Patton’s Ipecac label, and even more when realising that Patton himself contributed to the album. I am more or less of the believe that everything the man touches turn into (Angel) Dust, and Carboniferous does have elements of thin intangible Pattonism that in my ears sound directionless and adheres to an aesthetic beyond my grasp.

Zu is actually a great mix of metallike power, energi and volume not to forget seasoned with aggressive brass on some of the tracks, making them sound not unlike a band like The Thing. It’s also these tracks that I find the best – especially the penultimate track Obsidian, follows a stricter recipe that suits the music better. Actually I am sure that I could compile a nice little EP of the tracks that I like, and quite possibly it would stand out as some of my favourite stuff when not obscured by the majority of the tracks on the disc.

Remember that you can listen to Thrill jockey albums online on their homepage – like I am listening to the new Arbouretum album now -YEAH!

http://thrilljockey.com/catalog/?id=103710

So fucking what if this album will only last one week, it’s going to be a hell of a week, and I will be dancing and singing along like there is no tomorrow. Matt & Kim’s new album is entitled Grand, but is everything else – it is actually quite small, but it doesn’t matter cause this keyboards and drums duo just party and keep it small as it should be, so in a week it can crawl away, and maybe not come back ever – who cares?

But here’s to the coming week!

http://www.myspace.com/mattandkim

My job is very boring at the moment, so I spend a lot of time looking for music and also ordering a lot of CDs. This results in at least the weekly square package for me, and once in a while there are days like this where I receive no less than three CDs. Sometimes disappointments, but not today – definitely not today.

First record to arrive came all the way from Japan complete with Japanese letters on the cover ans all. Kazuki Tomokawa’s Red Water, Blue Water, was one of my biggest surprises last year – and a could have easily been one I never discovered, but after hearing the initial sound bite, something told me that this was worth an investigation. And what a treat. This Japanese Folk and Blues artist have made one of those records with the right balance of sound that teases the ear – this comes mainly from his singing voice – and sounds that pleases. As agreed by Roderic – a colleague of mine – today, the music sounds rather European, and it’s the way of singing that brings in the exotic element of this record. Had I discovered this one earlier in 2008, it would probably have been my biggest promotion.

Then came a long overdue purchase – the triple CD by super minimalist Phill Niblock. Four hours of single instrument drones, beautifully Touch style packed. This is going to be one of those record I will listen to very rarely, but when I do, it will be very rewarding. I never knew Phill Niblock until this record appeared on The Wire’s top 50 in 2006, but since then I keep noticing reference to him and his work. Hope that within long I will have time to sit down for four hours and just listen.

Finally a small package from Italy arrived, with my second Valerio Cosi record of the year – this time a duo with fellow Italian Fabio Cosi called We Could For Hours. Valerio Cosi is singlehandedly going to save 2008 for me – this record is very likely to end on the very top of my records of the year list (when I get around to making it. The saxophone loops by Cosi is as wonderfully drony as on Heavy Electronic Pacific Rock, and the extra layers of keyboards, guitar, synths, harp and electronic added by Orsi and and Cosi respectively makes for a wonderful sound scape (even when the sax is absent).

2009 is turning out to be a great year for 2008 .

The picture disc LP from Antonia Leukers called Hasenlove is fantastic, and somehow reminds me of the cover of Suede’s debut album.

Hasenlove picture disc

http://www.myspace.com/Antonialeukers

At my work today I went to pick up the mail, only to find that there was two packages with my name on it. Hurrah!

Charlie Looker - Extra Life

One CD by Extra Life – the band of Charlie Looker. I was pretty amased when reading the review on Brainwashed, but now I am a bit undecided, as this is borderline theatrical stuff that I don’t really appreciate. On the other hand this is fresh to me and with lyrics like “I never go down / but I swallow everything” I am kinda sold.

http://www.myspace.com/extralifetheband

Lawrence English - Kiri No Oto

The other CD was by Lawrence English – another soundscapy dronish thing on Touch – I had higher hopes, but I am yet to give it the attention it probably deserves