withoutatrace

Name: steve billingsworth
Home Page: www.google.com
Member Since: Mar 09, 2004
Rank: 1365
Average Vote Received: Correct (4.03, 177 votes)
last 10 days: Correct (4.38, 16 votes)
Rated 517 releases, average: 4.41
Location: Wisconsin
Profile:

It's tough to keep my collection all here on Discogs, so basically I just add whatever I can. I do forget a lot of stuff, and I am more likely to add something to my collection if I am actually adding the release to the database. I've probably got about 20-25% of my entire collection on here. If you see a particularly rare item in my collection that you are interested in hearing, let me know and I might be able to provide you with an upload. Aside from items in my "For Sale" list, nothing in my collection is for sale/trade.

Seller Rating:

100.0% positive (51 ratings)

Buyer Rating: 100.0% positive (3 ratings)

withoutatrace's groups (2)

Reviews:

Seasons (pre-din) - Meadow Seas - 20-Mar-09 06:34 AM
This is probably the most enjoyable work Ive heard from this artist. Gorgeous waves of piano emerging from clouds of nostalgia-soaked guitar meditations--just an incredible experience overall. The changing melodies seem to all revolve around the same theme, but with each change in melody, I feel a change in emotion. Tearful embraces turn into wistful hand-holding walks through quiet fields. Quiet fields turn into contemplative faces reflected in the slow river. And then at the end there is this subtle message of hopefulness. The sun is setting, but this is not a bad thing--tomorrow we can listen to it all again.

The orchestration on this piece is not obviously complex. The track is mostly dominated by cross-faded piano segments, but its amazing to hear how powerfully emotive this can be.

Sam Goldberg - Cycles - 17-Feb-09 04:09 PM
Is this Sam Goldbergs finest moment? Some would say! The exploration into SynthLand is not an unwelcome change in the Goldberg catalog. While most of this guys stuff revolves around billowy guitar meditations, here with Cycles, we have a cousin to the spaced-out guitar. This tape is wrought with gently bubbling-synths, and instantly nostalgic melodies. Pop in this tape, lie back and allow your mind to reach for distant memories of your childhood--when film soundtracks were cool or with-it if they featured music such as this. Extra-Terrestrial. If you are disoriented on substances, this recording may cause you to perceive your own brain melting. Beware!

Gravenhurst - Flashlight Seasons - 17-Dec-08 06:28 AM
This LP is by far my favorite work from Talbot & Gravenhurst. It seems to magically teeter between a wintry grimness and autumnal nostalgia, and Talbots voice is there the entire way to guide the album. The opening track begins a reverb-soaked foray into the cold forest and by track two, "Fog Round the Figurehead", were back into our cozy cabin retelling old stories, eyes welling up at the remembrance of and old friend or just the feeling of fondness for the way things once were. Track three is back on the trail, into the cold. ...And on it goes! This is a record of piercing nostalgia--put it on your turntable, sit down in a warm chair, and listen. Dont get too comfortable, though, because youll need to get up a half-dozen times to flip the record.

Natural Snow Buildings - Slayer Of The King Of Hell - 03-Apr-08 10:52 AM
This is perhaps the darkest single release from Natural Snow Buildings, so far. The title may have betrayed this fact prior to listening, but in case there was any doubt, this cassette is most certainly not for the faint of heart. "A Four Armed Protector" beings with 4 minutes of delay-drenched drones. After this relatively brief introduction, the orchestration turns to a morbid, slowly pulsing, crawl. Perhaps were now meeting the protector; bells, chimes and tambourines rattle on with (I think) a harmonium, among other instruments. Unless youre a worldly musician with a vast knowledge of the many instruments of the world, it wont be easy to put your finger on exactly what the duo is using, but you should be able to pinpoint the feeling that NSB, together with their diverse orchestra are driving at. Toward the end of this A-side, things begin to blur. Sounds that were undertones become masking overtones, soaked in distortion and reverberant obscurity. But still, the enchanting terror holds you.

The B-side is less cohesive and altogether not as good as side-A. The title track becomes a bit difficult to follow toward the middle. The final track, Broken Sword, is an excellent piece of drone ambience, with the presence of the famous chimes and tambourines. It features some excellently chilling vocal groans and what sound to me like backward-looped guitars.

Overall an extremely daunting release from Natural Snow Buildings, but still very enjoyable and a rewarding listen.

Caribou - Andorra - 21-Mar-08 06:44 AM
I was a little unimpressed with "The Milk of Human Kindness", especially after the psychedelic bliss of "Up In Flames". But Dan Snaith seems to have come back around to this fabulous combination of good songwriting AND ear-tickling sampling. "Andorra" sounds like a late-1960s rock album, though if you listen close enough you can still tell that its made by machines.

The songs on this album are nostalgic and intimate. "Shes The One" has to be my favorite, as it always comes off sounding like a Fountains of Wayne song to me (I think theres a similar melody in there). The orchestration, though synthesized, sampled & looped, is always right on. The flutes that keep showing up, the persistent organs, those marching band drums in "Sandy", and of course the guitar--all of the instruments just sound excellent. And Snaiths voice sounds better on this album than it ever has.

Electronic music never sounded so good. It never sounded so much like psychedelic rock! I cant help but love it.

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