| 12K1050 | KENNETH KIRSCHNER | |
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"FILAMENTS & VOIDS" - 2xCDFirst off I have to say congratulations to 12k for hitting the half century of releases (if you don't include the limited series, of course). It's a real landmark and what better way to celebrate than bring in Kenneth Kirschner for a double CD of exquisite electronic and experimental music. I remember saying that Ken's Three Compositions on Sirr was a great way to familiarize yourself with his sound and I think this is an equally well-rounded and varied work. It comes wth a marvellous cover featuring a gorgeous photograph by Taylor Deupree and has a nice gatefold package... and that's before you get to the music. The first disc contains 3 tracks and uses a deft array of tones and styles to capture you. The first track is an almost John Hudak-esque reduction of sound that uses passages of silence to accentuate the haunting melodic phrases that move in and out of the piece. It's a stark, yet very beautiful work. The second piece is more of a discordant meditation with a lush, yet dark tone that, in a similiar way to the first track, uses a hypnotic style of phrasing and gentle variation coupled with a tangible sense of space. The final work on the first disc is a genuinely beautiful drone-based piece with a dramatic, string led sound. There's an organic quality to it that makes it earthy and although you could consider it a harsh noise in itself, it actually ends up sounding surprisingly uplifting. The second disc comes as one long piece, clocking in at an hour and twelve minutes and this for me is the highlight of the release. Kirschner is always at home with extended works that he allows to flow and almost follow their own path. That's exactly what happens here with a delightful piano refrain that slowly builds yet has the most delicate of touches before slowly mutating into a soundscape piece of immense breadth and depth. This is one of his finest works to date in my opinion and comes as a completely essential addition to the 12k catalogue. Remarkable.I have to say that this is one of Ken's finest works to date. Absolutely spellbinding stuff with beauty, challenge and depth in equal measure. Double CD with photography by Taylor. |
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LISTEN: 3 SAMPLES | Add to wishlist | |
| LND006 | OFFTHESKY | |
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"CREEK CAUGHT FIRE" - CDRIt's a real pleasure to be able to bring you this latest release from New York's The Land Of label. Following hot on the heels of the Green Kingdom album comes this absolute beauty from Jason Corder, aka Offthesky. As you're probably all too aware, I'm something of a fan of his work and this album is such a neatly parceled, lovingly created work of electronic goodness, that I'm sure you'll understand why. Temptingly deep tracks which feature a wonderful balance between minimalism and melody sit aside the kind of delicate, processed tones and textures that you feel wouldn't be out of place on a label like 12k or NVO. That's what I really like about this album... it's a chance for Offthesky to dive into slightly more abstract waters than some of his other work and you end up with a warm, friendly and really quite lovely work. As usual these are limited in quantity so I'd be in there pretty quick smart to secure a copy. Highly recommended. |
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LISTEN: 4 SAMPLES | Add to wishlist | |
| DB01 | VARIOUS | |
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"LISTEN" - CDRI'm thrilled to have secured some copies of this tremendous album. The first release for new label DB (short for Duckbay, quite possibly) run by Jordan Sauer, aka Segue, it brings together some truly top notch artists to give us a gorgeous selection of ambient, soundscape electronics. Featuring tracks from Offthesky, Ryonkt, Entia Non, Son Of Rose, Corey Fuller, Elian, Glenn Ryszko, Segue himself, Porzellan, Russell Garden, Crossroads, Chubby Wolf (great name, by the way) and Shunji Takami I'm finding it hard to pick out anything other than pure class all the way through. You'll find it's a contemplative and beautiful set of tracks that always seem to have an element of melody in there, be it a gentle guitar chord, or a warm texture or drone. There's power here as well with tracks like Elian's 'The Feeling Has Passed Me By' or Russell Garden's 'Shh...' which use dense drone-constructions in a truly angelic way. Again, like I say, it's hard to pick specifics out because everything flows together so well - a real achievment for a compilation. It's an edition of 200 copies and it comes in a really nice cardboard package which complements the music contained within. I'm spoiled for choice this week I must say and this is another absolutely fabulous release. A big recommendation. |
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LISTEN: 5 SAMPLES | Add to wishlist | |
| LINE_037 | MARK FELL | |
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"ATTACK ON SILENCE" - DVDMore info to follow. |
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| MEAN014 | QUANTEC | |
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"DISTANT SPACE PART 3" - 12"Is this the finest of the three Distant Space releases on Meanwhile? I don't know, but it's certainly another damn fine piece of work from Mr Schienhammer. There's something almost more spacious about this 12" and I can't put my finger on exactly why that should be. The B-side track 'Specters' in particular uses a magnificently constructed chord sound and rolling, subterranean beats to give you some real movement. Panned out delays and reverb echo around you and it's really back to a stripped down Berlin-esque vibe that I think works really well. It's a Meanwhile 12" and it;s by Quantec and, ultimately, that's a very good thing indeed. Highly recommended. |
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LISTEN: 2 SAMPLES | Add to wishlist | |
| KK:016 | LEVEL | |
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"OPALE" - CDIt's always a real pleasure to receive new releases from Spekk, one of my favourite Japanese labels, but it takes on an extra personal significance when one of those releases is by Level. As it's fairly plain to see I'm a huge fan of BG Nichols' work and this new album is simply stunning. In true Level style, the tracks that make up Opale are formed from piano pieces and loops provided by Linden Hale and Keith Berry and it's this delicate restructuring of the original material that gives Level such a unique sound. The works are clearly sublime in the first place; gentle meditations that use an isolated and delicately beautiful feel. When they're processed ever so slightly and added to layers of warm, melancholy sound the result is heartbreakingly lovely. You can genuinely feel the emotion flowing through the music and it serves to give you a wonderfully personal insight into the feelings of the producer. Simply put this is one of the finest albums of the year and comes with the highest possible recommendation. Absolutely superb from beginning to end. |
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LISTEN: 2 SAMPLES | Add to wishlist | |
| KK:018 | FELICIA ATKINSON | |
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"LA LA LA" - CDWhen it comes to Spekk releases you know you'll be getting something high quality and occasionally you'll get something you just plain didn't expect. This album falls into that category as it's very much an organic, folk-based piece of work, but with a twist. I actually need to resample it and add some of the other tracks because, in my opinion, this is an absolute beauty of an album. It reminds me of something, but I haven't quite put my finger on it yet, but the combination of Felicia's sultry vocals and the mellow, friendly and occasionally strange music is very compelling. She uses an interesting way of splitting her vocals from the music by using panning and the gentle layers of plucked and strummed guitars mixed with pianos and other sounds sources is lovely. It's fresh, it's airy, it's slightly quirky and, yes it's a little bit different for Spekk, but essentially this is a great album. Listen and enjoy! |
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LISTEN: 2 SAMPLES | Add to wishlist | |
| KK:017 | ANDREY KIRITCHENKO | |
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"MISTERRIOUS" - CDAndrey Kiritchenko is the only artist thus far to have two releases on Spekk. And it's honestly not hard to see why the label welcomed him back again. Misterrious is a wonderfully put together album of friendly and warm music with just the right amount of experimentalism and more than its fair share of beauty. Organic instruments combine with electronic processing and structuring to give you a series of tracks that have numerous reference points, but manage to sound like nothing other than an Andrey Kiritchenko album. Once again one of the main features of his work is the piano which he uses in isolation on some tracks and as part of the whole lovely ensemble on others. It's lightly rhythmic and full of passion and for those that enjoyed the Alps album on Spekk, Andrey's previous album or those who just like great music, this is another must-listen. Pure class. |
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LISTEN: 2 SAMPLES | Add to wishlist | |
| KRANK125 | WINDY & CARL | |
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"SONGS FOR THE BROKEN HEARTED" - CDYou've just to love Windy & Carl. Well, you don't *have* to, but I strongly recommend you show some love for this beautiful new album from this duo. From the off we're treated to drone-based guitar soundscapes of some substance and there's a drifting, melancholy feel as you might expect. Then things calm down a little and you find a more introspective and restrained feel shining through with breathy vocal elements ang gently undulating layers of sound. Then it's back to the more powerful pieces with great swathes of noise washing over you. Just a top notch album from this awesome outfit. Brill. |
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LISTEN: 4 SAMPLES | Add to wishlist | |
| HYP2854 | VARIOUS | |
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"MESSAGE FROM A SUBATOMIC WORLD" - CDI'm extremely pleased to have snaffled some copies of this excellent ambient compilation and I think you'll agree it's rather fine. Including tracks from Relapxych.0, Oophoi, Jason Sloan, Phaenon, Austere and Evan Bartholomew amongst others it falls right into the style of music that I adore. Mellow, sculptural, beautifully atmospheric and nicely varied this is definitely something that fans of Infraction will adore. Elements of organic sound design and experimentation punctuate the deep icy chords and swathes of texture that these artists provide. A really lovely album that you can sit back and relax with. A definite recommendation from me. |
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LISTEN: 4 SAMPLES | Add to wishlist | |
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The Goodiepal is making a Facebook group dedicated to abstract electronic music. Why not have a check and see exactly what he's up to at the moment! Smallfish is not responsible for the content of any external sites, just to let you know.
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RSSLatest News
New Spekk Releases Pre-Ordering
2008-11-13 11:53:00 Yes! I'm a happy boy today as the new Spekk release are en route to me for next week! Including the stunning' Opale' by Level, Felicia Atkinson's 'La La La' and Andrey Kiritchenko's 'Misterrious' you'll find samples of them all by following the link below. Excited? Me? You bet! | Link
Databloem Label In Stock
2008-10-23 10:25:00 ...at last! It seems criminal that I've never had these awesome releases in before, but thanks to a friendly phone call last week from Dennis that runs the label I find myself overwhelmed with outstanding CDs. If you're a fan of labels like Silentes or U-Cover this is a label you simply have to check. As you can see there are loads so it's going to take me a little while to get the descriptions together. In the meantime, do yourself a favour and check out the samples... seriously good stuff! | LinkSilentes - New Releases + Restocks
2008-09-26 11:22:00 You'll probably have noticed by now the rather humungous quantity of Silentes related bits and bobs that have come in. Excellent new releases on Silentes and Silentes Minimal Editions (along with some rather surprising ones as well!) plus restocks on the likes of Global Systems Silently Moving, Rod Modell Plays Michael Mantra, Ontayso, Katzo and various others, including the long overdue Nosesoul CD + DVD. Check them out, have a listen (click the link here and then hit the 'Jukebox this page' button to hear them all sequentially) and see what you think. | LinkExperimedia - In Stock
2008-09-25 11:09:00 A great label from the States featuring some lovely releases, the Experimedia has now joined the list of low-key, interesting electronic labels to be stocked here at Smallfish. More info coming soon on the releases as there's been so much new stuff today and I've got to listen to it all! First impressions of them are very favourable though, I might add, and there are some seriously good releases there. And they're impeccably packaged as well. All round, very nice. | LinkSchole - New Release and Restocks
2008-09-23 11:54:00 You may remember the recent Sawako and Daisuke Miyatani CD that came in. Well, I'm pleased to say that I've got some restocks as well as the brand new release from label boss Akira Kosemura. It's absolutely gorgeous and really added a certain sunny something to my day today. If you like the melodic end of electronica you'd be well advised to check it out, as well as the other releases on the label. Lovely stuff. | LinkMilieu Music - Coming Soon
2008-09-16 11:07:00 I'm pleased to say that I'll be getting hold of some releases on Brian Grainger's Milieu Music imprint in the near future. They'll be up as pre-orders from tomorrow hopefully and I'm thrilled to be working with Brian again. More news tomorrow.Pub - Making Trakcx. 7 - In Stock
2008-09-13 11:01:00 All I've got to say is that I'm thrilled to have the 7th instalment of Pub's Making Trakcx series in stock. As I've said in the review it may well rank as my favourite release so far as it harks back to his earlier electronica style. Simply, it's beautiful and as usual it's limited to 100 copies. Marvellous stuff. | LinkIn your cart
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