Extralife
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Posts posted by Extralife
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I'm by no means a jazz expert, but I dabble from time to time. I've greatly enjoyed this album lately and wanted to share though. Some heavyweights of the UK jazz scene come together to create some really understated, yet vibrant music that draws influences from all over the spectrum. Hearing bits of Terry Riley's minimalism interspersed with fourth world sounds. Worth a listen if you dig adventurous improvised instrumental music.
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I'm prone to a little bit of Eprom from time to time. Definitely some heavy tunes on this one - kind of reminds me of Funkstorung's Return to the Acid Planet a bit. Thumbs up.
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59 minutes ago, someguy said:
And Drift Series 2 ffs.
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One of four new track drops from an artist I admire that has dropped off my radar for some time. "Much Less Normal" was put out way back in '14 - then nothing until recently. Based on what I am hearing, Lnrdcroy has been hard at work in the studio all this time. I'm hearing early detroit techno and WARP AI series mixed with classic '00s IDM stylings of Richard Devine, and Phoenecia. Super high quality tunes on display - I think most WATMMers will find something to love. Hope to see more coming soon!
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Her first album was played constantly in early '20 back in Extralife HQ. New one is sounding super lush on first listen.
From the writeup:
Electronic music as consumed by listeners if often defined or understood through curation, selecting a song purposefully to motivate a moment, whether you’re a DJ or someone creating a playlist in your bedroom. boskage steps outside of this familiarity in the way that it moves with us and adapts. Each track on boskage feels so incredibly personal, and yet they can’t be defined by a single setting. For those who lend an ear and willingly welcome the winding path that “reflection of time, place and emotion,” (a concept juneunit speaks of when describing her process for this release) might take you on, then the possibilities for how her music can shape your present moment are perceptively and sincerely endless.
While boskage is amorphous in it’s ability to color your surroundings, the way it pulls you in feels deliberate. boskage is driving, atmospheric and ambient with dubby and lo-fi elements. “the trash is done” is one track that beautifully encompasses all of these pieces, rolling through a single journey that explores a spectrum both contemplative and tranquil on one end, and determined and dancey on the other. Similarly, “arest b” plays with the way in which it grabs you, demanding that you listen intently or move your limbs.
One of the most captivating tracks on this release finds you at the end. Ambient and alluring, “pursuit” brings you in gently and builds to a blossoming of crystalline synthesizers that almost tangibly swirl around you while still driving you forward. Perhaps it is the track title alone, but as “pursuit” slowly unravels to its end, bringing the album to a close with it, it’s accompanied by a sense of exultance and release.-
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4 hours ago, species8472 said:
not sure i'm spilling the beans on this one, but whatever. its on juno and redeye.
new one from 36 who we all love.
'Symmetry Systems' is the new LP by Dennis Huddleston AKA 36. Inspired by Warp's 'Artificial Intelligence' releases from the early 90's, it's a melodic, synthesiser-driven record, with a wink to the past and a nod towards the future. "I have a deep love for those early Warp albums, particularly the Artificial Intelligence compilations. It was a wonderful time for UK electronic music. That beautiful, warm machine sound, with an optimistic (if somewhat naive) vision for the future. I found the whole thing incredibly inspiring and wanted to revisit those memories, albeit with a 36 twist" Like 'Wave Variations' before it, this record explores various approaches to the theme, with each track directly inspiring the next one. All tracks are sequenced in the order they were made. 'Symmetry Systems' is a collection of hypnotic machine music, made with a delicate human touch.
https://www.juno.co.uk/products/36-symmetry-systems/878496-01/
Yes. I
36.
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Whoo this one is really special.
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Really enjoying this. Thanks for putting it back on my radar @beerwolf
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47 minutes ago, hayhook said:
Are we due for an orbital track by track blog? : )
Would love this! Come on @purlieu
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30 minutes ago, Pirtek said:
I do like the 12" Orbital remix of it though. I've replaced the album version with this.
That, The Brown album and Snivilisation
Yes, those are the three untouchable classics, imo.
If you've never heard them before, I also think their live sets are a great place to start. The official Eventim Hammersmith ones from Monster's Exist era offer a really nice slice of their sound. There are also several high-quality unofficial classic sets that are floating around out there. Glasto '94, Leeds Soundcity '96, and Space Opening Fiesta, Ibiza from '08 are three of my favs.
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1 hour ago, NewSchoolScience said:
Cmon, the Brown album is a timeless classic. The three track run of 'Lush 3-1', 'Lush 3-2', into 'Impact (The Earth Is Burning)' is outstanding. It still hits as hard as it did back in the day.
Agreed - mostly. Timeless but a bit bloated. Never been a fan of Monday, but I guess it’s the palate cleanser before the lushness of Halcyon.
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1 hour ago, ignatius said:
i wish it got more exposure but that's true of a lot of music. tough to rise above the noise these days as much as ever..
Well that’s what the WATMM New Releases forum is for!
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On 5/11/2022 at 9:24 AM, atypic said:
I guess the Bandcamp posting will come later
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4 hours ago, purlieu said:
1. Tension
2. Funny Break (One is Enough)
3. Tunnel Vision
4. Oi!
5. Pay Per View
6. Lost
7. Tootled
8. You Lot
9. Shadows
10. Monorail
11. TransientYeah, that would work pretty well. On the whole I actually quite like The Altogether. It took a long time to click but I'm fond of it now. I wrote this about it on Discogs:
Orbital cut ties with their club roots - temporarily at least.
The Altogether got a lot of flak when it came out, from myself included. The chunky drum sounds, the long unfurling epics interspersed with occasional club bangers: all gone. Orbital's pop album: something, it seemed, that nobody really wanted. Strong lead single - and the most classic-Orbital sounding track here - 'Funny Break', gave listeners false expectations. So the disappointment on initial plays led to an understandably negative response.
In hindsight, I find it a lot easier to be positive about the album for what it is: a very brave record. Previous album The Middle of Nowhere was solid, but found them out of new ideas - Orbital by numbers. Instead of continuing down that path with diminishing returns, they decided to mix things up entirely. The snippets of pop songs and '70s sci-fi that littered their tracks in the past now take the fore. Parts of the record - most notably 'Shadows' - preempt the hauntology movement, with a strong influence from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. 'Waving Not Drowning', ties together folky acoustics and basic analogue electronics in a disturbingly cheery kids TV theme. 'Pay Per View' skews lounge music into strange territories; 'Tootled' does the same with metal, sampling heavily from Tool. 'Tension' and 'Oi!' have tongues firmly fitted in cheeks, retro sounds and chirpy melodies mashing together rockabilly and rave.
It's not all great. 'Last Thing' is b-side quality, 'Doctor?' is a novelty step too far - a fun live track that should have been kept to the stage - and the less said about David Gray's appearance on 'Illuminate' the better. 'Meltdown' is decent but totally unfitting for the album. The album's artwork is really quite bad, even by the retro tongue-in-cheek feel of the album (bring back the old logo and swirly emblem!)
The Altogether is never going to be reassessed as a masterpiece, but I think it's time it gets a wider reappraisal. It's a bold record, a band trying a totally different approach after taking their classic sound as far as possible. It's intentionally retro sounding, and intentionally poppy, so those kitsch, cheesy sounds people often complain about are being unfairly misjudged. It might not be the most successful experiment ever, but it's an admirable one, and one that yields some excellent results in hindsight.
The US version features a generous, if slightly muddled, bonus disc, featuring all the original non-album material from the 'Style', 'Nothing Left', 'Beached' (sadly not 'Beached' itself, with the rights being owned by 20th Century Fox) and 'Funny Break' singles, plus the Altogether DVD bonus track 'Monorail'. Although these are almost all ostensibly the band's remixes of their own material, Orbital come from the same school of artists as FSOL and Underworld when it comes to reworking their own tracks into wonderful new, often unrecognisible, tracks. The menacing electro-breaks of 'Beelzebeat', for instance, started life as 'Funny Break', although one would never know by listening. 'An Fhomhair' is an acidic (and far superior) take on TMON's 'Otono'. 'Weekend Ravers' turns 'Funny Break' into a storming progressive trance number. 'Old Style' begins by reprising the melody from 'Style', before moving into an entirely new piece with an early rave feel. The sole wholly original piece here, 'Mock Tudor' is possibly the best, a stunningly beautiful piece of analogue techno in 7/4.
In terms of consistency and track quality, this bonus disc is one of the finest discs in the band's extensive catalogue. Unfortunately, the production styles of The Middle of Nowhere and The Altogether are incredibly at odds, giving the mixed running order a somewhat clumsy feel. 'Beelzebeat' seems immediately garish when followed by the chunky analogue sound of 'Nothing Left Out'; 'Monorail' suffers similarly sat between two more TMON-era pieces. A purely chronological running order, putting the various 'Style' mixes next to each other would have made an equally unsatisfying listen, but I still think the running order could do with more work to make the disc sound more cohesive.
Regardless, despite the criticisms I do have of this two CD set, they are mostly minor in comparison to the numerous highlights found here. To any newcomers to Orbital potentially put off by the negative response The Altogether has received, I'd strongly recommend giving this 2CD set a listen, as there is a lot to love if approached from the right perspective.
Really well written review that encompasses everything I feel about this album. I’d add Beezlebeat to that tracklist of yours though.
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40 minutes ago, Pirtek said:
Orbital themselves have said some of The Altogether and Blue put together makes one good album.
I would say the cream of the Altogether tracks including some of the material from that bonus disc and one-offs, would make an LP that would stand up with any of their earlier releases.
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One of those artists I have listened to here and there over the years but never really gave a fair chance. I will at your recommendation though!
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Yeah - this is great. Good rec.
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One of my favorite electronic tracks ever. Slow burn remix by a Rabbit in the Moon alias. Maybe even hear some proto-BoC sounds in here. Simple, yet profound to me.
Nice to be talking about Orbital again!
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Always up for more RX. Been a fan since his SoundCloud dump - still tons of great tracks from there that are unreleased.
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3 hours ago, ignatius said:
spoke to label owner recently. comp #2 is in the works. no timeline yet but seems to be moving along quickly.
Hyped to hear this. First one was excellent.
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4 hours ago, dcom said:
Metro Dade's one and only album from 1996 digitally reissued by Gerd. Highly recommended.
Been getting into Gerd for the first time over this past year. Was unaware of this release. Thanks!
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Nice to have em all together on a well curated set. Bought cds of both
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40 minutes ago, dcom said:
They're compilations of tracks from earlier releases on various labels (CPU, Cultivated Electronics etc.).
Super cool. I think I have most of these - any idea if any are exclusives? Still will buy as I support literally everything Morphology do - full stop.
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Guilty pleasure Orbital:
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Szun Waves - New Universe
in New & Upcoming Releases
Posted
Color me very interested. Love Luke Abbot. Also love Wylie and his work in Portico Quartet and Paradise Cinema. Should be great!