• Contributed Releases (125)

• Pending Submissions (66)

• Browse Collection (442)

• Browse Wantlist (72)

• For Sale (16)

• Contact

Buyer Rating: 100.0% positive (2 ratings)

withoutatrace's groups (2)

• Electronic Music
• Industrial,Ambient,Noise,Experimental,Neofolk

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 we're now meeting the protector; bells, chimes and tambourines rattle on with (I think) a harmonium, among other instruments. Unless you're a worldly musician with a vast knowledge of the many instruments of the world, it won't 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 it's made by machines.

The songs on this album are nostalgic and intimate. "She's The One" has to be my favorite, as it always comes off sounding like a Fountains of Wayne song to me (I think there's 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 Snaith's 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 can't help but love it.

XEΛA* - The Illuminated - 11-Mar-08 08:53 AM
Over the past 15 monts or so, I've become quite a big Xela fan. "The Dead Sea" was the album I had been looking for: bleak, extremely textural, and the kind of album that transports the listener (in this case, to the Northern Atlantic).

This cassette, scarce as it is, is an extrapolation of that bleakness, into another realm of chilly destitution. Xela uses percussion instruments/samples that mimic the sound of chimes, chains, bells, and other, stranger objects. The melodies are practically non-existent and at times just cacophonous. The fact that it's only available on a cassette adds an entirely new level of sound, which I don't doubt is intentional.

'Black Scripture' is the more scarce of the two tracks, beginning with an eerily slow build-up into the sound that Xela has now wholly embraced—what translates to a slew of sounds that seem to have clipped into red somewhere across a canyon. It's spooky.

'Gilted Rose' is similar to the A-side, except that after 10 minutes or so of this aforementioned haunting, we enter a twisted version of the world of black metal. Barely intimated vocals break through at this point, backed by that same red-lined sound from across the tank, this time with a distortion of the usual metal sound.

Overall, not easy listening, but very rewarding. And "The Illuminated" is evidence that Xela is not slowing down or keeping static.

Vibert / Simmonds - Weirs - 13-Feb-08 06:31 AM
I've been listening to this album for a few years now, just finally picked up a copy of the 2xLP. It's such an incredible piece of music. Luke Vibert's beats sound as fresh in 2008 as I'm sure they did when the album first dropped. Jeremy Simmonds' sometimes warbly, sometimes chunky synthesizer sounds are always just right. The entire album is bathed in this strange eerie overtone, and this is what makes me want to listen to it again and again.

"Tinned Teardrop" is set up as a funky dance track, but the bass and lead synths turn it into a bizarre trip into the dark side of IDM. "Path T'Zoar" is a slowly crawling epic house track that takes you from planet A to planet B, and by the end I don't remember exactly how it happened. "Reservoir" is another long and spiraling journey, only completely devoid of a drum track (though I wouldn't call it 'ambient', either). Probably my favorite track, "Thing Bounces Back" is a groovy tune with loping synths and lots of blips and beeps along the way. The mismatched timing between the bass, lead, and drums is really what makes it an interesting 12 minutes.

Overal "Weirs" is nothing short of classic '90s electro. 5/5!

Cursor Miner - Explosive Piece Of Mind - 18-Oct-07 07:32 AM
I really can't believe how few people on Discogs have this record! It's really a gem of an album. The lyrics (for tracks which feature lyrics) are clever and often humorous. These vocal tracks are typically very catchy and reminiscent of highest quality synth-pop of the late 1970's and early 1980's. The non-vocal tracks are glitchy and metallic. The impactOverall I simply love this record, both for the obvious referential quality that it carries and the inevitable originality (how many dance artists dare cross over into the pop arena?).

View all 19 reviews...