Two CDs that I purchased, 27.10.02
310 "After All" (Leaf)
Wow...I really enjoyed the double album/compilation of their earlier works "Aug 56" and "Snorklehouse" (entitled "Downtown and Brooklyn Only"), but this one seems even better. A lot more beat driven than "Downtown..." but still has an amazing collage of 'found sounds' that makes for great headphone listening.
Set Fire to Flames "Sings Reign Rebuilder"
Picked this one up after seeing it mentioned on this board. The following is taken from their website:
http://www.alien8recordings.com/alien30.php3
set fire to flames are a collective of thirteen musicians from the musical community of Montreal. Brooding and beautiful, haunted and haunting, sings reign rebuilder is so stunningly / lovingly played and skillfully assembled, infused throughout with a massive sense of slow-burning tension and periods of weighty, rousing release.
Initially the idea was to gather a group of folks together in a members montreal apartment and record as much as they could over a five day period. As set fire to flames explains, "...[we wanted] to conduct the whole five day recording session like a series of experiments--- to get lost in the sound as it was actually happening---to make the whole recording an exploded intense event---to push tolerance levels and limitations with a group of people sonically---to become shut-ins---to operate on no sleep/confinement/ intoxication---some of us were interested in seeing what would actually happen if we attempted to record improvised drones and textures under those conditions---and what impact that might have on yr. head---how individual/collective tension would play out---and what the end result would sound like---so a lot of experimentation with tolerance, repetition and duration---drones..."
"And so these set fire to flames recordings happened---we piled all of the gear into the first floor (kitchen/living room) of this old, falling down apartment in montreal (the place has a crazy history to it...built in 1878...used to be a 10¢ shoe shine parlour and a brothel in the forties)--- the control/mixing room was in a bedroom on the second floor (up a rickety wooden staircase)---you can hear the house all over the recording---(the staircase/ groaning floorboards/creaking chairs/traffic and police cars outside/men coming out of the mosque downstairs)--- all of these sounds became an important part of the final recording..."
"Five days of continuous recording netted us roughly twelve hours of raw sound---all of it was hacked apart and later rebuilt---and the final document of that five day period (which was magic and the ****ing house was levitating.....) now makes up 'sings reign rebuilder'---the record is about 60% improvised and 40% composed---the five-day recording stint turned into something more than originally intended---it wasn't just thirteen people droning aimlessly to infinity---things worked out somehow and we got lucky..."
Unfortunately, track 3 had a big scratch in it, so I am waiting for a replacement. What I did hear however is, as they describe, very haunting - sucks you in emotionally a la Sigur Ros. Now I need to go out and grab some godspeed you black emperor albums - any recommendations on where to start??
Oh yeah...had a brief listen to the new Sigur Ros - crappy headphones and noisey store, but I wasn't that wowed - looking forward to the preliminary reports guys!
