mcbpete Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 OK, brace yourselves. Returning to his much lauded Xerrox project, Alva Noto has out of the blue delivered one of the most emotionally arresting and quite simply jaw-dropping album's we've heard in recent times. Carsten Nicolai once again shuns the pinpoint precision for which he's become renowned, turning to a more abstract yet harmony-driven working methodology. As with the first Xerrox album, the starting point is a set of samples culled from external sources; this time around, snippets and recordings of SunnO))) dronesmith Stephen O'Malley and composer Michael Nyman feature, as does an excerpt from the 2004 Insen tour with Ryuichi Sakamoto. All these elements melt together beautifully under a unified banner of widescreen, washed-out digital ambiences, molten electronics and in the case of pieces like the outstanding 'Monophaser 1', an ambitiously symphonic scale. If the main thread of Alva Noto's music (as exemplified by last year's Unitxt) inhabits the domain of all things 'micro', the Xerrox albums surely represent a bold venture into the realm of 'macro', making grand yet utterly intimate gestures that would find a kindred spirit in the stately neo-classical drones of Fennesz's Black Sea or Deaf Center's 'Pale Ravine'. While floods of strings and sustained electrical signals compound the amorphous feel of the album, tracks like 'Teion Acat 1' draw attention to familiarly process-heavy, more rhythmically organised elements - the music in this instance embraces a fissure-ridden post-dub feel that recalls Pole's first three albums. Elsewhere, 'Sora' sounds like a mournful orchestra being pumped into some fatally broken digital mixer, while 'Meta Phaser' flirts with a sound that might best be accounted for by imagining a KTL album filtered through a bad telephone connection. While Noto's oeuvre is predominantly associated with pristine and prodigiously precise sound designs, Xerrox is governed by a more chaotic, emotional sensibility, and this second volume feels like an even greater step away from the comforting orderliness of prior successes, opening up exciting new avenues paved with noise, melody and a big pulsing heart. Incredible music coming to you with our highest possible recommendation - Essential Purchase. Oooh my, I've just ordered this. I love Vol.1 so I can't wait for this one, the samples on Boomkat sound utterly breathtaking ! I'm not a fan of his usual micro-techno tracks, but these are completely out of this world, stunning stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azatoth Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 yep. ordered. the first one was real nice and this sounds even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khov Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 yeah its a top album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Enter a new display name Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 The samples sound more promising than the first volume. I am going to download the album soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Benedict Cumberbatch Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 i'm going to illegally obtain the shit out of this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CATS Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 noto, ryoji, coh and christopherson are all thats worthwhile in new electronic music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest arbee Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 woah, that record is really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbpete Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 I just got this in the mail today and damn it's good. The melodies twinkling around the zaps and the crackles are just beautiful, it's like pop music for the 32nd century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheCentrifuge Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I just got this in the mail today and damn it's good. The melodies twinkling around the zaps and the crackles are just beautiful, it's like pop music for the 32nd century. the three xerrox monophaser tracks are simply out of this world. whereas before i had huge respect for Carsten Nicolai as a sonic sculptor and cold glitch technician, i'm now in awe of his ability to apply his aesthetic in such different ways. this material seems to hit the high notes that his earlier forays into melody and ambience didn't quite reach (though i do realise that much of the source material came from the Noto / Sakamoto collab etc) top stuff, proper chills go through my body when its turned up loud. close your eyes and enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcofribas Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 anyone know where the hell i can order this in the states? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheCentrifuge Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 anyone know where the hell i can order this in the states? think you can buy MP3/FLAC from boomkat.com (UK site) but not sure about physical releases. maybe find out who distribute R-N in North America? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest plangplang Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 whoa... the Alva Noto stuff i've heard so far was pretty shite imo (unitxt, transform), but this is very good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest plangplang Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 but this is very good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbpete Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 whoa... the Alva Noto stuff i've heard so far was pretty shite imo (unitxt, transform), but this is very good! Yeah his Xerrox releases are the only things by him that I've been interested in. The rest is a little too clicky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spptrl alt del Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Alva Noto with Ryuichi Sakamoto/Ensemble Modern - utp_ is also very good. Having a hard time not wearing these two albums out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awepittance Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 noto, ryoji, coh and christopherson are all thats worthwhile in new electronic music so 3 primarily minimalist tone electronic musician composers and the only remaining member of Coil? that's a shame that you've limited your scope of good electronic music so much. I could give you some recommendations if you are open to them. I think i have a pretty good idea what type of stuff you like given our conversations about coil to Mcbpete: what is the last beat oriented release Noto did? I remember hearing something last year that was really amazing but i forgot what the title was. It was very like raw data harsh noisey sounding, not his typical clicks and cuts minimalist beats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo duck Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 what is the last beat oriented release Noto did? I remember hearing something last year that was really amazing but i forgot what the title was. It was very like raw data harsh noisey sounding, not his typical clicks and cuts minimalist beats last was Unitxt http://www.discogs.com/Alva-Noto-Unitxt/release/1334140 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khov Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Alva Noto with Ryuichi Sakamoto/Ensemble Modern - utp_ is also very good. Having a hard time not wearing these two albums out. this brillant cd/dvd is on heavy rotation @khov HQ. fantastic mix of acoustic & electronic drones. its weird because i'm huge fan of Alva Noto "quiet" tracks (Insen, Utp, Xerrox) but not crazy about his heavy ones with beats & cuts. like this live track : Your browser does not support the HTML5 video tag http://www.raster-noton.net/media/AlvaNoto_CTM09.mov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tauhid Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 anyone know where the hell i can order this in the states? http://www.forcedexposure.com/bin/search.p...archfield=title Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Abuse Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 jou have you guys seen john carpenter's christine? xerrox monophaser 1 reminds me of that film. it's good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Glass Plate Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I don't know why I haven't gotten this yet, I really need to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcofribas Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 anyone know where the hell i can order this in the states? http://www.forcedexposure.com/bin/search.p...archfield=title it seems that raster noton releases come out in the us several weeks after they do in teh europe. an american watmmers ever ordered from boomkat or a similar overseas service? what's the shipping usually like? (cost, time) i'm fucking dying to get the new snd record on rn, but it's not out in the us until next month :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest telikan Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 With current exchange rates, buying direct from Europe in the US is often about the same or even cheaper. Raster-Noton's store offers free worldwide shipping, so you can get any release for about $21 USD, which is about the same or less than a US distro price with shipping. Everything I've bought from Boomkat or Norman Records has come no later than something shipped Media Mail domestically would have, and their prices usually work out great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awepittance Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Alva Noto with Ryuichi Sakamoto/Ensemble Modern - utp_ is also very good. Having a hard time not wearing these two albums out. this brillant cd/dvd is on heavy rotation @khov HQ. fantastic mix of acoustic & electronic drones. its weird because i'm huge fan of Alva Noto "quiet" tracks (Insen, Utp, Xerrox) but not crazy about his heavy ones with beats & cuts. like this live track : Your browser does not support the HTML5 video tag http://www.raster-noton.net/media/AlvaNoto_CTM09.mov has anyone here tried making sounds out of raw data files? thats what this sounds like to me, i wonder why no one else makes beats out of this type of shit it sounds really cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcofribas Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 With current exchange rates, buying direct from Europe in the US is often about the same or even cheaper. Raster-Noton's store offers free worldwide shipping, so you can get any release for about $21 USD, which is about the same or less than a US distro price with shipping. Everything I've bought from Boomkat or Norman Records has come no later than something shipped Media Mail domestically would have, and their prices usually work out great. thanks, man. that's really helpful. *cums on you* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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