Milieu

löser - The Ologie Project, is a set of MP3s presented by Thomas Raukamp, which appears to have grown from an earlier release on Stroem under the moniker Cousteau. The presentation of the tracks is unusual, using an image for each track including the date the track was presumably written on. All tracks can either be downloaded or played alongside the track’s image.

The overall feeling of The Ologie Project is cinematic ambience. From Overture to The Final Ologie, Raukamp treads familiar contemporary ambient territory, employing harmonies to construct passages and melodies along with more unique layered sounds. Clearly influenced by earlier ambient artists such as Jarre or Eno, harmony is key to The Ologie Project, yet Raukamp maintains a level of uniqueness of his own eccentric style. And the subtly of Overture, creates a wonderful sense of becoming and emergence that leads you into the collection beautifully.

I have respect for Raukamp simply for being an Atari fan, and for attempting to present his music in a way that takes advantage of a release on the web. For example, the photos on the project’s site appear to be used to “frame” each track within boundaries of aesthetic intentions. As I’ve previously noted on this site, not enough artists actually make use of the web as a medium to compliment their music.

Also of note, I’ve been playing around with Pandora, using it to find new music to listen to on my upcoming holiday. I thought I’d surprise my girlfriend by finding her some music similar to her favourite artists, and this turned out to be quite funny. Just look what it wanted a fan of The Polyphonic Spree to listen to:

Click for a screenshot of Pandora

Andrew Cauthen, of Takepills.org sent me three CDs full to the brim of intriguing electronica. The full extent of his work can be downloaded on his site, in the Rumored high speed rail hub section.

I intended to dig out key tracks in his collection to discuss here, but it’s quite hard work because there’s so much. Instead, let’s start at the beginning. Andrew Cauthen has a website called Takepills.org that contains a large amount of music, partitioned up into zip files, compressed with org vorbis. Of course, using vorbis is a statement in itself, in which Cauthen is disputing the legitimacy of patents and perhaps even intellectual property. This is made even more obvious by the fact Cauthen gives away his intellectual property, licensing his music so that it cannot be used commercially but can be distributed freely and allows derivative works to be produced in the same way.

There’s also a description on Netlabels.org:

“A netlabel since 2001 specializing in sonically documenting the ongoing present reality through the life and times of Andrew Julian Cauthen. An experimental library focusing on simple mediums of computer software, found sounds, and sometimes a keyboard or other random borrowed instrument. With strong tendancies toward awareness, honesty, benefitting all sentient beings, and sometimes self-destruction.”

The styles Cauthen employs range from Boards of Canada-like synths and effects-laden drum loops (Saltsugarfatdough, Space And Time, Cowuddersecretion), to “8bit”-inspired electronica, and to more unique territories. Tracks like Potluck sound almost new age or contemporary at times, or perhaps just futuristic world music from countries that haven’t been created yet. Particularly excellent are Cauthen’s ambient moments: Iseau and Feem are highlights. Sometimes he even approaches a techno sound in a similar way to Aphex Twin, Anti-Hero in 05.03.28 Slave Race is a good example of this.

I’m a little bit impressed by the volume of work on his site. At first I thought I could have been mistaken, and that he was actually a record label owner, then I thought he could be some kind of political activist who discovered the copyleft movement and decided to upload loads of commercial work under his own name to make a statement. It’s not a question of quantity over quality, because his tracks are uniquely produced, with their own sounds and influences, careful attention to programming and a keen imagination. All you need do is spend a few days pouring over his work to see that.

I can only assume that Cauthen spends a huge amount of his free time making music, and doesn’t hold any of it back when he releases it on his site.

Aleksander Nikov - oo5, released on Camomille, is a unique collection of tracks composed of vinyl crackles, pianos, digitally distorted synths, static mimicking the sound of falling rain and strange string sounds, somewhat reminiscent at times of Scanner’s 52 Spaces. The mix of contemporary sounds and more recognisable themes is spot on, sitting neatly on the fine line between ambient electronica and contemporary experimentation.

The first track, Concert for Piano and Delay is exactly as the name describes, using all manner of crackling artifacts, effects processing and warping to create an exposition of presumably short samples. The third track, Plains for… seems to be the pinnacle of Nikov’s style, combining all manner of sampled finery to create vivid and tactile sounds centered around a simple compositional structure.

There’s a great feeling of animation in the way Nivok uses effects, but this is performed in a somewhat natural manner so they don’t steal the show from the main melodic or rhythmic content. Camomille notes that this is his first release, and judging by this I assume he’s a fairly experienced bedroom composer. Hopefully his future work will continue in this direction, as there are certain aspects to it that are unique.

I’ve been reviewing and listening to John Holowach’s stuff for a while now, and I previously noted that I thought he would find some success with his band, Tryad. John contacted me to let me know that they’ve completed their new album, Public Domain.

Public Domain opens with a witty reflection on creative commons licensed music, in a very DJ Yoda-esque manner, and you can tell Holowach is being political but light-hearted here. The transition to the The Final Rewind, the real opening track is a professional touch, and bodes well for the rest of the album. Fans of UNKLE may find their interest piqued at this point, but comparisons to commercial music aside, there are some original moments on Public Domain: skip ahead to the dreamy and twisted Seduction, and then again to the hip hop/pop/electronia-fused Witness. And then again to The Rising and Arcadia. The heavy use of effects on the vocals in The Rising works well with the electronic instrumentation, a direction I hope Tryad will explore in the future.

My Piano Sings makes a welcome return, which is followed up by the wonderfully dramatic Dance of the Urbanite . Then Holowach gets to have some fun by himself in Sampling Memory, which has a touch of retro 90s dance music somehow, perhaps due to the piano samples used.

Intro (a.k.a., The Samplist) could become an anthem for the new generation of public domain and copyleft artists out there, it’s far more interesting than the overexcited articles one might read about the virtues of Creative Commons and open source licenses.

Hey, I’m an independent artiste!

Skytree - Knotwork is the follow up to The Dagda EP, which I reviewed in March. Knotwork features more breaks, backwards guitars, glistening bells and string samples. Four Tet comparisons are obvious, but it looks like Skytree’s developing his melodic lines more, with a sentimental quality that reminds me of Ulrich Schnauss.

Lucid Praire has an amazing classical guitar riff that really drives the track from its ambient openings. Skytree skillfully manipulates the riff somewhat, adding reversed effects here and there, and closes on an unexpected melancholic reworking of the sample. Knotwork uses guitar sounds again, this time steel-strung and metallic. There are wind instruments in the background, creating an odd combination of eastern and American sounds.

Skytree clearly prefers a certain type of drum loop, and it’s testament to his abilities that you don’t notice them. They work so well, they neatly accompany the melodic material, until suddenly he breaks out into a drum solo of sorts and you realise they were there all along. There are more “synth” sounds on this release, ambient analog pads, used particularly well in In a Mery Mornynge. Sometimes samples are slightly distorted and layered up, giving a lot of seemingly simple tracks a depth that isn’t always easy to notice.

Skytree - Knotwork is clearly a high quality release, but it’s so good that I’m worried people won’t notice it. Next to currently popular electronica, it sounds good, it sounds like a commercial release, but there’s nothing original enough to get it noticed. It’s clear Skytree is competent, and has very firm ideas about what sounds good, but to get noticed and to get the credit he deserves he needs to do something slightly original. Then again, by putting this stuff out for us to download and enjoy for free could be all he needs.