Nate Young - Regression

Genre: Noise, Drone
Label: Ideal Recordings

Detroit based Nate Young formed Wolf Eyes as a solo project a bit over ten years ago, probably right after he left Nautical Almenac. He was soon joined by Aaron Dilloway in '98 and John Olson in 2000. Dilloway dissapeared to Nepal and was replaced by Hair Police beast Mike Connely.

Enough of the Wolf Eyes history lesson, we are now at 2009 and Young is releasing one of his strongest works ever, the deep and impressive Regression solo album on iDEAL! Analog synths, tape delays, loops - presented in a restrained, relaxed and controlled way. This makes the music even more sick and dark than the WE sound. I guess Young was inspired by vintage horror movie soundtracks, 70's ambient synth stuff and intoxication. These things comes to my mind anyways. Nate Young is here proving that he is covering a wide range of experimental music and that he is no doubt one of the few masterminds in the rougher parts of electronic music. iDEAL is highly recommending this to anyone claiming to be interested in synth and tape music. All right.

City Center - City Center

Genre: Experimental, Psychedelic, Ambient, Drone
Label: Type Records
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This is the debut full-length release by Brooklyn-based Fred Thomas as City Center. Although this is his first solo project, Thomas is far from a newcomer to the scene. Rather, he has spent most of his life in search of the perfect pop music, first as the frontman/mastermind of Saturday Looks Good To Me, recording with His Name Is Alive's Warn Defever, as a member of Flashpapr, and now under the oddly-monikered City Center. Apparently the name comes from European tours where the "City Center" sign is a regular (and reliable) sight, but it gives few clues to the unknown pleasures held within Fred's music. Taking cues from the skewed pop music of Arthur Russell on one side, and the most warped moments of Brian Wilson by way of Panda Bear on the other, Fred has channeled an outsider pop masterwork. Thick waves of decomposing electronics and processed instruments (is it gamelan? Is it something else altogether?) crash and fizz beneath Fred's multi-tracked echo/reverb-heavy vocals. Sandwiched in-between three-minute hazy AM pop marvels such as opener "Killer Whale" and the stand-out "Summer School" are extended ambient experimentations -- but unlike the occasionally academic workouts you might expect from Type, these feel organic and distinctly home-brewed. There is something raw and magical about Fred Thomas' musical creations - exultant, far-away harmonies are buried under thick blankets of fuzz guitar, hand-bells, ambient hums and gentle acoustic guitar, and it all pulses with an animal warmth, like something that grabs you and won't let go. Pop music has rarely sounded quite so open-hearted.

Hanne Hukkelberg - Blood From A Stone

Genre:Folk, Pop, Jazz
Label: Netwerk Records
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BLOOD FROM A STONE is the third album for the Norwegian artist best known for her imaginative use of found sounds and eclectic array of instrumentation. While Hukkelberg spent her formative years playing in various metal bands, the singer admits she lingered over other influences for this collection, most notably post punkers like Sonic Youth, Cocteau Twins, Pixies, Einstuerzende Neubauten and P.J. Harvey. You can also hear a bit of Siouxsie through the glass darkly.

Although it's immediately apparent that this album rocks more than Hukkelberg's previous releases (Little Things [2005] and Rykestrasse 68 [2007]), the results are still undeniably idiosyncratic. The bulk of her vocals are first takes, and her lyrics are more direct and less introverted than on previous albums. Musically, the songs continue Hukkelberg's penchant for combining traditional and unusual instrumentation to form a soundscape. Though a self-described rock album, BLOOD FROM A STONE manages to include field recordings of flagpoles, train doors, seagulls, clogs, rocks, kitchen utensils, freezers, stoves and a school desk - with no traditional drum kit to be found. All instruments were tuned by ear; digital tuners were banned from the studio.

While was recorded in Hukkelberg's regular studio in Oslo, the songs themselves were written during the seven months she spent living in a tiny coastal village on the Norwegian island of Senja, 300 kilometres north of the Polar Circle. This starkly contrasts with a similar period of time spent ensconced in Berlin while writing her previous album. Hukkelberg explains: "In the north of Norway it is way more quiet. It has been interesting to experience composing in both a busy city and in a quiet village. I noticed it affected me in very different ways. I felt a need for composing more quiet songs in the noisy city, and more noisy music in the quiet village."

This record is co-produced by Hukkelberg and her long-term collaborator Kare Vestrheim. Several of her regular musicians appear on the album, including Henning Sandsdalen, Lena Nymark, Erland Dahlen and Kare Vestrheim, while other contributors are Bent Sæther (of Motorpsycho) Ivar Grydeland (Huntsville), Martin Langlie (Gate, Valkyrien Allstars), Mark Jowett (Nettwerk Cofounder), and the unusual rhythm section Hurra Torpedo (on freezers and stoves). Hukkelberg herself plays bass, guitar, drums, percussion, piano and various bric-a-brac.

Children's Hospital - Alone Together (LP)

Genre: Noise, Drone, Psychedelic, Experimental.
Label: Sacred Bones Records
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Alone Together is the debut release from Children's Hospital. If their despondent sounds remind you of something you may have once heard it's because this is the latest project from the A-Frames/Intelligence/Rodent Plague/AFCGT axis. Reminiscent of the brooding and gray skyline of their hometown of Seattle the duo hover between abstract soundscape compositions, Jandek inspired bouts of melancholy droned out dementia, and stripped apart abrasive punk - often combining several of the forms at once. If recent Rodent Plague releases on Killshaman and Jerkave Tapes are any indication it would be ill-advised to sleep on Children's Hospital.

Tracklist:

1 - Roots
2 - Unseen
3 - Preschool Of Atonement
4 - If You Find Me I´m Here
5 - Left Handed
6 - Exodus Return
7 - After The Aftermath
8 - Blue/Green Algae
9 - Words Of The Prophet

Helios - Unreleased Vol. 1

Genre: IDM, Ambient, Post Rock
Label: Unseen Records
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Tracklist:

1 Convivium (4:18)
2 Cross The Ocean (5:23)
3 The Evening Walk (3:56)
4 Bounce Dive (5:47)
5 Every Hair On Your Head (4:01)
6 South Tree (4:06)
7 Friedel (5:49)
8 Distance (4:31)
9 Carry With Us (4:05)
10 The Jaguar Sun (4:29)