Belbury Poly - The Willows

British gothic. Lots of detuned analogue synths. Boards of Canada-esque on a couple of occasions, and a few genuinely eerie songs.

The packaging is beautifully designed by label owner Julian House, who has designed sleeves for Stereolab and Broadcast, to look like '70s textbooks.

Lots of free mp3s at the Ghost Box website.

Boredoms - Seadrum/House of Sun

The Boredoms are the best live band I've ever seen. I managed to see them on two occasions at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, in their current three-drummer incarnation. What could be an awful muso/hippy idea is infused with a tremendous punk energy and Eye is a very charismatic front man. Seadrum/House of Sun was recorded with the full band, apparently at the beach on the surf line. Seadrum is very evocative of the sea, with its rolling piano lines, and House of Sun is an extended drone, which reminds of the very hot and humid days in a Japanese summer.

Ken Ishii - Jelly Tones

This is so good, as good as any techno LP I've got I think. Quite a complicated style, lots of interesting drums and squelchy analogue sounds. I've also got the track he did as part of the soundtrack for the Playstation game 'Rez' which is similar to the opening track here, ' EXTRA ', and just as good. Saw him DJ live at the Liquid Room where he played a mostly electro set, and threw in a bit of 'Tour De France'.

Andrew Weatherall - Fabric 19

An electro/minimal mix from Weatherall. I particularly like the second half where things glide along smoothly. Highlights are Miwon's 'Brother Mole' and a cover of 'Atmosphere' by Technova.

dna

Search This Blog