The "classical" music you buy from Boomkat (2010): a thread to discuss Sylvain Chauveau, Johann Johannsson, Peter Broderick, Olafur Arnalds and others

Anyone heard the Rachel Grimes album?

BTW, djh, thanks for starting this thread...hadn't heard Chauveau or Arnalds yet and grabbed a bunch of both. The Arnalds albums I got have rapidly become some of my favourites.

Anyone else picked up the newish Johannsson soundtrack to the film Varmints? Grabbed it on vinyl and ripped it to MP3 (guess the CD isn't out yet) but there seems to be some weird distortion that comes in on the last track of side one...not sure if that's part of the sound or whether my rip was bad...was perfectly clear up until that point. Either way, enjoyed the album.

the Varmints soundtrack turned up in today's boomkat newsletter (vinyl only until april it says) and actually goes by the snappy title "And In The Endless Pause There Came The Sound Of Bees"

samples here:
http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=245281

You can get Varmints on CD - it came out as a tour CD - I got my copy from Insound. It's being re-issued in the UK in April.

Free compilation that partly matches this thread's aesthetic here: http://jointhecircle.net/

nils frahm's wintermusik sounding fucking gorgeous right now (washing the dishes, glass of red on the go).

Want to echo the Richard Skelton love upthread - Landings is great. Maybe I just don't listen to enough of this sort of thing, but the strings on it sound fantastic, there's a really earthy resonance to them.

In the mood to buy a record in this genre ... Any suggestions?

One artist you may want to check out is Harold Budd - a lot of good albums dating back to the 70s, even. It varies a bit, from very piano-heavy to highly processed, so you'll want to preview them first I guess. I have a soft spot for Lovely Thunder and his collab with the Cocteau Twins, Moon and the Melodies but people often point to The White Arcades as a good starting point. (He also has some newer releases too which I'm somewhat less familiar with.)

Also you may want to check out one or more of Ryuichi Sakamoto's more recent works - I really like both BTTB and Playing the Piano for their simplicity and the nice balance between classical sensibilities and modern feel.

Have also been enjoying the Nils Frahm record Winter Musik.

Anyone go to any Bubbly Blue & Green events?

Also, yes, Winter Musik is excellent. I possibly like The Bells even more.

> Anyone go to any Bubbly Blue & Green events?

was at the Isan / Hauschka with Hildur Guðnadóttir on thursday. went for the laptop electronic (with added water driven percussion and splishy sploshy samples), stayed for the prepared piano and modified cello (surprisingly captivating).

another huge thumbs-up for Frahm's The Bells - this is great stuff

new olafur arnalds: http://www.erasedtapes.co.uk/ (though not really *getting it* so far)

The new Greg Haines is getting good reviews:
http://www.themilkfactory.co.uk/st/2010/03/greg-haines-until-the-point-of-hushed-support-sonic-pieces/

Hauschka, the prepared piano dude i mentioned upthread slightly, is in the latest morr mailout as gigging soon.

10.05.2010 — London (GB) — Barbican ( http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=10071 )
12.05.2010 — Cambridge (GB) — Junction
13.05.2010 — Bristol (GB) — St George
14.05.2010 — Oxford (GB) — Holywell Music Room
15.05.2010 — Manchester (GB) — Band On The Wall
16.05.2010 — Edinburgh (GB) — Roxy

also, isan's half of the Bubbly Blue And Green gig is available from their website: www.isan.co.uk (which is a bit off topic but...)

Nils Frahm in Oxford tomorrow!

So I can't make the Johann Johannson show in London on May 27, anyone want a ticket? £12.50, wot a bargain.

what's worth exploring on kning disk?

and were broderick and frahm the only "solo piano" releases on the label?

Hauschka very entertaining live.

bunch of stuff on Type Recordings, including Broderick's Float in the boomkat summer sale for £3.95:

http://www.boomkat.com/labels/?id=2582&format=cd

Have I missed anything?

Looking for suggestions for more stuff like Olafur Arnalds or like, say, Peter Broderick's Float - stuff that is maybe a touch less dissonant than stuff like Landings can be at times (though I love it too). Really need some more stuff that won't jangle the nerves at random intervals!

(Caveat: still want to stay away from new age cheeseorama.)

I have never heard of these composers. I assume they sound something like Satie informed by minimalism with subtle O'Rourke-ish electronic touches, with higher production values and lower standards of performance technique than most 'new music'? Which could be great or not, depending.

OTM

Pondering spending my Xmas Boomkat voucher on Third Eye Foundation's "The Dark" and Philip Jeck's "An Ark For The Listener" but do feel free to persuade me otherwise . . .

Those are both really great listens tbh.

does the Akira Rabeilas' Caduceus album go here? nobody seems to have talked about it much. severely processed guitar w/ traces of field recordings and delicate AM radio interference. so nice

Should start a 2011 thread but uncertain on what classical music is being bought from Boomkat this year . . . .

Had forgotten how much I enjoyed Richard Skelton's Landings (prompted to replay by The Wire).

Has anyone gone for Skura, the 20 disc box set?

a bunch of the Type Recordings releases are in the winter sale, for the next week anyway.

also, here's a link to the Home Listening recommendations

http://boomkat.com/genres/32/recommendations

Go for it if you want to start a new thread, but I would say make it modern classical / ambient / field recordings of rolling tumbleweed cos there's obviously lots of blurring between these things.

New Nils Frahm.

Can't listen to it on headphones (as recommended on the sleeve) as the scrape of pedals etc gets on my nerves too much.

Hasn't moved me as much as previous releases, so far, but it may grow on me.

This is lovely:

http://drownedinsound.com/news/4143522-listen--stream-a-winged-victory-for-the-sullens-self-titled-debut

agree..... my thoughts here

I picked up a dozen or so releases in the recent (1 mo. or so ago?) Boomkat sale... biggest winner is probably Sylvain Chauveau's The Black Book of Capitalism...... gorgeous record all around.

I do hope the ongoing Boomkat sales keeps the Type label ticking over.

http://www.livingroomsongs.olafurarnalds.com/

Came here to post that link. Nice catch. Day 2 is wonderful. Will be ordering the cd/dvd combo, myself.

The thing with announcing that this is going to be released ... what if this week's recordings are rubbish?

Enjoying Johannsson's Fordlandia.

I suppose I'm having difficulty discerning whether some of this music is intentionally difficult or whether it is aiming for pleasure. Not that it matters either way.

Well, the one time I saw him he and the ensemble seemed exceptionally dour. Not sure whether they were just having a day or whether they were trying to be Serious Musicians™, but it didn't exactly project an aura of pleasure. Which doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, however.

er, having a BAD day...

On the recordings, I like the "whole thing" - the strings, the processing, the production, the electronic bits. When I saw him live, I just kind of thought I'd rather just hear the strings and that the other sounds felt too incongruous.

... Actually, I didn't enjoy it live to a point that it *slightly* put me off the records.

Had forgotten how much I enjoyed Richard Skelton's Landings

― djh, Tuesday, March 22, 2011 7:36 PM (7 months ago) Bookmark

Man... just discovered this today and it's jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Fantastic, meditative and ethereal music. Shoots straight to my heart.

Anyone else heard the Le Lendemain album called Fires? Got turned onto it by the guy at Penguin who knows I'm into Johannsson etc, and it certainly fits into that whole vein.

Have really learned to love the Winged Victory album - it's also put me onto the solo Dustin O'Halloran albums and all of the Stars of the Lid stuff, too - all of them are on Rdio thankfully!

@Maresn3st, it worked! I liked the sustained tension - so I'm going to buy it when it comes out :)

Ah, thank you Stan!

Had wine and made a CD-R for a friend. Here it is as a Spotify playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7yBvydRPnLza5ijwEHKPC7

(Not my most thought-through playlist).

I reviewed five new CDs on the Another Timbre label. link

used to lurk in this fine thread quite a bit a couple of years ago

recently I thought of it again because I started to work on solo piano music that fits the thread title quite well, although with somewhat of a different twist than most of the other artists discussed here

well I just released my first piece and while technically not on boomkat just yet, I’m definitely planning to sell my album there eventually maybe next year or so :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpwN-QxJiGs

(feel free to ignore if this kind of shameful self-promotion is making you nauseous)

Weirdly missed this:

https://bleep.com/release/329892-cate-blanchett-hildur-gunadttir-tar

Enjoyed this - Elizabeth Alker on Radio 3 - Sacred Spaces

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001fx2s

Has there been anything good this year??

Didn't know where else to put these modern percussion ensemble pieces, but album title of the year for sure:
https://juliansartorius.bandcamp.com/album/rllrlrllrrlrlrlrllrlrlr?label=1968817536
Julian Sartorius - RLLRLRLLRRLRLRLRLLRLRLR

This video of one of the pieces is fantastic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ4HRiNTQC4