KILLED in CARS: 2009

Xu Cheng - Wild Fox Chants (Archival, 2009)

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Xu Cheng's Wild Fox Chants was brought to my attention by Danny's wonderful, but dormant, blog 'By Chance Upon Waking.' A couple things made me excited: first, logistically, it was free for download. I had not heard of Cheng, and I might not have been willing to shell out $20 for a disc of "prepared guitar" by an artist I hadn't heard of. By putting it out free on Archival, Cheng really sucked me in and made me a fan.

The second thing that got me interested was, of course, the "prepared guitar." Whenever I read "prepared" to describe an instrument, my mind naturally recalls John Cage's prepared piano pieces, and although the instruments are quite different, I think a familiarity with Cage's works could be a partial introduction to this.

Dec

Kaija Saariaho - L'Amour de Loin (Deutsche Grammophon, 2005)

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Composed in 1999 and premiered in 2000, L'Amour de Loin is Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's first opera. As a reinterpretation of Jaufré Rudel's La vida breve, Saariaho, along with librettist Amin Maalouf, tells a story of idealized love from afar. Set in the 12th century, through five acts, a jaded Parisian falls in love with a woman from Tripoli, whom he has never met.

Dec

Limpe Fuchs - Via (Dom, 1987)

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As sometimes happens, after I finished the upload I found out, while searching for the above links, that Mutant Sounds has already posted this record. However, if you listen to the record, you'll see that it generally fits with this site, and I know that some of you don't like Rapidshare, so I kept the post.

This post fits nicely with the Jocy and Hallett posts from earlier, ie.

Dec

Miguel Angel Coria - En rouge et noir (Cramps, 1976)

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We've interrupted this regularly scheduled broadcast for a re-blog from the fantastic and unjustly esoteric Twice Zonked!.

With releases from, among others, Cage, Bailey, Lucier, and Ashley, I suppose it is easy for Coria's breathtaking solo prepared piano work, En rouge et noir, to get lost among the Cramps shuffle.

Dec

Aleph Naught - The Dreams In The Witch-House (Small Doses, 2009)

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This was limited to 66 copies, which the label page is showing are sold out. Given Aleph Naught has put out a couple free things online, I think it should be safe to pass this along. I was listening to this record, and looking stuff up on it when I learned that Anthony Mangicapra did the artwork for this. I met Anthony recently, and he was a great guy, really cool to talk with about music. I need to get around to reviewing his music, too.

Dec

Noveller - Red Rainbows (No Fun Productions, 2009)

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I'm making this entry to memorialize Sarah Lipstate's Noveller as the first entry of the new below section highlighting exceptional new releases. Like I said in the initial review, this section is going to highlight new releases, but not offer them for sharing (keeping with the loose policy of not posting anything in print, or less than 18 months old).

Dec

István Mártha - The Wind Rises [Hangnapló] (ReR, 1987)

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An album that I found for a couple reasons: both on the Adore the Freak list, and the atonelectric peripherals list Doc threw together, as well as general acclaim (despite the criminally low rating count). Birthed by strong musicians in play, the affair was pushed into a higher level by the decision to play/record outside.

Nov

Tom Cora - Gumption in Limbo (Sound Aspects, 1991)

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I am going to review this in due time. I am going through a phase of cleaning up the site some, primarily working on the layout and getting the tagging more clear. Sometimes this will lead to less precise tagging, but I think the overall look of the site will benefit.

Also, I am starting to put a little more into the posts.

Nov

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - The Main Ingredient (Elektra, 1994)

Hip-hop. It's a noticeably touchy subject for extreme music geeks. Hip-hop heads tend to exist separately from your typical KiC-affiliated music obsessive. The only reason I can think of is the tendency for MCs to focus on the superficial. Bragging about how dope you are, or how much money you have, or how fucked up it is in dilapidated inner-city America, or being casually misogynistic isn't something our typically introverted heads have an easy time relating to.

Nov

EAQuartett - Electroacoustiquartett (2007)

One of many albums that I have grown to love and would not have heard if not for the semi-dormant Danny. I think the name gives away what type of music this is, although I think that this is every bit as much a microtonal, maybe even a small jazz album, as it is an electroacoutic one. Indeed, if you go back to some of the other microtonal albums I've put up, I think you'll see much more in common here than there is with eai (as far as the typical conventions of an eai record).