February 2012
6 posts
An Interview With Pontiak
Pontiak are a band striving to create something different each time they approach an album. Last year’s Comecrudos was envisaged as a soundtrack to a lost roadtrip whilst Echo Ono, released this month, is an attempt to recreate colours as sounds. Having chatted to bassist Jennings Carney during the recording of the album, it felt like the three brothers who make up the band had finally settled...
The Visitor: 16th February 2012 →
My radio show from the 16th Feb is now available to stream and/or download.
A two hour trek through my record collection featuring some very new music tucked in between some older stuff.
You can get in touch by emailing me on rich@cambridge105.fm or become a fan on the Facebook page.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Mansion on the Hill
Jim O’Rourke - Ghost Ship…
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins at the Junction 2,...
This could easily have been called “An Evening with King Creosote and Jon Hopkins” given its intimate nature and how the night eventually panned out. The surroundings of the Junction 2 might be ultra-modern with exposed metal and stone work, but its minimal lighting and comfortable seats ensure that you can concentrate wholly on the stage and the players. It’s no wonder this has become the de...
The Visitor: 2nd February 2012 →
My radio show from the 2nd February.
Two hours of music from the old and the new.
FC Judd – China Bowl
Add N To (X) – Metal Fingers in My Body
Portishead – Chase the Tear
Django Django – Default
Belbury Poly – Chapel Perilous
Mark Lanegan Band – Ode To Sad Disco
Lee Randaldo – Tomorrow Never Comes
Father John Misty –…
Liminal Minimals – January 2012
Some short form reviews on Pete Wyeth, Refractor and the new FC Judd compilation.
Read over at The Liminal.
January 2012
4 posts
Portico Quartet - Portico Quartet
For their third album, and second on Real World Records, the Portico Quartet have embraced something that the Hollywood studios are currently obsessed with: re-imagining, or rebooting the “franchise”. For the Portico Quartet this has meant changing their sonic approach, with this self-titled album (how many times have we seen this being used as a means of starting again?) seeing the band make a...
The Visitor: 19th January 2012 →
My radio show from the 19th January which features a live set by C Joynes.
welcomethevisitor:
The Visitor 19th January 2012 by hughesrich
Two hours of cross-genre audio stimulation featuring a live session with C Joynes.
Retribution Gospel Choir - Hide It Away
The Men - ()
British Sea Power - Oh Larsen B
The Doozer – The Island
Huw M - Hide Behind You
Mavis…
Ensemble Economique – Crossing The Pass, By...
Brian Pyle, aka Ensemble Economique, is something of a chameleon. Each album flirts with a different genre; my iTunes library features a different description for each album of his I possess. At The Foot of Nameless Roads is deemed to be “Noise / Drone”,Standing Still, Facing Forward is laughably described as “Jazz” and, well, the latest LP entitled Crossing The Pass, By Torchlight is blank,...
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The Visitor: 5th January 2012 →
My first radio show of 2012.
welcomethevisitor:
Download or stream the show here.
A final look back at 2011 with some of my favourite tracks of last year.
All Tiny Creatures – Holography
The Black Keys - Little Black Submarines
White Denim - It’s Him
Explosions in the Sky - Last Known Surroundings
Mogwai -…
December 2011
6 posts
Albums of 2011
I produced a list of 25 records that went into the giant boiling pot that became The Liminal’s Albums of 2011, and here they are in their entirety.
These are my records of the year, in no order - I find it hard enough to distil a years worth of listening to just 25 as it is. These are stand out LP’s, each one worth owning and enjoying.
It was a year which saw my taste shifting...
WatchAs the year comes to an end, I’m going through my Delicious links and finding interesting articles and videos I’ve saved for when I had more time.
This is a very interesting and short 20 minute talk by Richard King about that awful word “indie”.
Heatsick – Intersex
The term “intersex” refers to an atypical combination of physical features that usually distinguish female from male. It was used in the title of work by renowned German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, who looked at the relationship between music and sexuality, and how its interaction is in a constant state of flux. Intriguingly, it’s now the name of the debut LP by Steve Warwick, aka Heatsick....
An Interview with Peaking Lights
Peaking Lights are the duo of Aaron and Indra, a husband and wife team from California. Newly signed to Domino, they’ve unveiled, in the past month, a mix website, collecting wave after wave of music that’s not just inspired them, but has served as a soundtrack to their lives. They’re also part of the Not Not Fun stable in the US, and as I chatted to Aaron and Indra, it seemed like an obvious...
Liminal Minimals – November 2011
As we stumble towards the end of the year, as the day light hours slim to almost nothing, we bring you a selection of albums that we’ve not had time to cover in detail.
I cover albums by Archers by the Sea, High Places, Rob St. John and Three Cane Whale.
Read on The Liminal.
November 2011
7 posts
Bad Timing Turns 10 with Hacker Farm, Pete Um &...
Bad Timing, the project of Cambridge-based promoter Jo Brook, celebrated its 10th birthday in the surroundings of the Aid & Abet art space near Cambridge Railway Station. A makeshift space once used for engine repairs, it was at its minimal best with the performance area at one end bathed in shifting projections. Tea and cake were served next to an ad hoc bar, black and white photos of the...
The Necks - Mindset
Before approaching any album by The Necks, the trio of Chris Abrahams, Tony Buck and Lloyd Swanton, you should ensure you’re aware of their intentions. They are renowned for their live performances where no two shows are the same, each set an improvised exploration of the music that can be crafted from a piano, double bass and percussion. Over 24 years, they’ve produced 16 albums, all subtly...
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“We wanted to play songs as songs”: An interview...
200 Years is the new duo formed between Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) and Elisa Ambrogio (Magic Markers). Considering their respective backgrounds, it comes as a surprise when playing the self-titled album that it’s so quiet. There are songs here, and it could possibly be described as a folk or even “roots” album. There’s no noise, no drone, no madness – just songs that show off...
WatchRob St. John ‘Sargasso Sea’
The debut album by Rob St. John, out soon on Song by Toad records, has affected me more than most. There’s something so sparse and delicate about the songs, something so honest and raw about the delivery. This is the video for the standout track ‘Sargasso Sea’, the video is footage from a home film of a mid 20th C American carnival, found...
Liminal Minimals – October 2011
Short form reviews about the new Field, Container and Colin Stetson releases and a reissue of the Roberto Cacciapaglia LP on vinyl.
Read on The Liminal.
October 2011
7 posts
Drum Eyes at the Corner House, Cambridge
There was a definite whiff of Autumn in the air tonight. As I cycled across Midsummer Common a wind with an icy breath blew through me, the now obligatory bike lights caught snatches of discoloured leaves rustling over dead twigs and tufts of grass. Luckily, the Corner House felt rather cosy with the lights turned down and a stage full of drums, pedals and acres of cable.
Continue reading on...
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The Visitor 13th October 2011
My debut radio show is now available to download and stream over on my dedicated Tumblr site.
Second show goes live on Thursday, 7-9pm on Cambridge 105FM and online.
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Simon Scott - Bunny
When we look at the world through art, be it literature, paintings or photography, we tend to be invited to look at it in polar absolutes. There is good and evil, there is darkness and there is light. Very few artists, in what ever their chosen field, can express the actuality of our world: that we live our lives in the middle of all this – a grey area, so to speak, a juxtaposition between...
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Tusk Festival 2011
A road trip to the North East was too good an opportunity to miss when the line-up for this year’s Tusk Festival was announced. Based in two, very close, venues which had an intimate feel regardless of numbers present, the festival eschewed convention with an incredibly varied, yet complementary, series of acts.
Continue reading on The Liminal.
Nils Frahm – Felt
The digital age has often seen a conscious effort to remove any trace of the original recording process itself. Many “lo-fi” recordings are polished to some degree by the ubu-software known as Pro Tools and, perversely, additional sounds are sometimes added to make a record sound artificially aged, or field recordings added to make the listener believe the artist is somewhere they’re not. The...
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Liminal Minimals – September 2011
In which I write some shorter reviews about Wilco, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Bobb Trimble and Roll The Dice.
Read the complete article on The Liminal.
September 2011
10 posts
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Patten – GLAQJO XAACSSO
While the skinny white boys with guitars aim to sound like something from the past, the future noise of the UK is coming from somewhere altogether darker and more urban. Step forward Patten with his debut release, the unpronounceable GLAQJO XAACSSO (I’m going to call it GX for short), on the skittish No Pain in Pop label. There’s not much information about the man behind the name, other than...
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“It was quite a heavy time for us” : An Interview...
The wonders of the internet have closed distances like no other invention, but it still can’t conquer traffic issues. As I wait for Adam Wiltzie (founder of slow-drone outfit Stars of the Lid) to join a conversation with myself and Dustin O’Halloran, a quick message pops up from him proclaiming “traffic in Brussels sucks”. As I wait for Adam to navigate through that, I begin my conversation with...
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Leftovers #1: The Rapture & Blondes
Some words that were supposed to go some place but didn’t because it ran late (and for once, not my fault!)…
The Rapture - In The Grace of Your Love LP
Five years and a different label since the lackluster Pieces of the People We Love, New York’s finest purveyors of post-dance-punk have returned. Seemingly refreshed by their move to the cool-as-a-cucumber DFA Records, In The Grace...
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“The innocence… is behind me”: An interview with...
Mondkopf is the alias of Parisian resident Paul Régimbeau who’s been crafting out a niche in upbeat and modern electronic music since his debut Galaxy of Nowhere. This year’s Rising Doom sees him take a more apocalyptic turn, a dark and brooding album of music that could soundtrack the end of the world. With the LP being released next month, I fired off a few questions over email and found...
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The Astroboy – The Chromium Fence
There seems to be a prevalence of retro-futurism at the moment. The continued revitalisation of electronic music seems to be at its base, the ability to make music that can sound futuristic but with echoes of the past. Portuguese musician Luis Fernandes, aka The Astroboy, has embraced this movement more than most. There’s also a direct influence of one of the foremost thinkers and writers of...
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An Interview with Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai
“Good things come to those who wait”, so a famous advert would lead you to believe. In this case, it’s an interview with Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai. The questions were sent around the release of their recent long player Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will and the electronic ether now declares it time for them to return to The Liminal around the release of their forthcoming EP, Earth...
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Zun Zun Egui – Katang
If the 21st century has taught us one thing so far it’s that we are now part of a global society. One of the main indications of this can be seen in the cross-fertilisation of music genres. The internet has shortened distances between places and made it easier to sample lots of different styles and travel beyond your own culture. Of course, none of this actually means that the music created will...
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The Inaugural Welsh Music Prize
I was Tweeting about this, so I thought I’d write something a little longer. I like the idea of the Welsh Music Prize. It’s a great idea to show what the Principality has to offer, which seems to have gone a bit quiet since the “Cool Cymru” days of the 90’s.
So this is the list:
Al Lewis - In The Wake [Al Lewis Music] Colorama - Box [See Monkey Do Monkey Records]...
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Liminal Minimals – August 2011
After a brief break over the Summer, we’re back with a selection of great albums released in August. I cover Fennesz, I Break Horses, LA2019 and Land Observations.
Read on The Liminal.
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Listen: Nils Frahm - Snippet
On the 10th October, Berlin based modern-classical composer Nils Frahm returns with his new album Felt. Released on Erased Tapes, it’s a beautifully sparse yet colourful blend of instruments all recorded in such a way that you actually *here* the creaking piano keys and shuffling string work.
Look out for a full review on The Liminal coming soon. In the meantime, hear the track...
August 2011
4 posts
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The Weather Station – All Of It Was Mine
All Of It Was Mine, the second album by The Weather Station the band led by songwriter Tamara Lindeman, was not a natural birth. Whilst her first album, the dark and wandering tales that comprised The Line, was a straightforward and easy process, the follow-up didn’t want to come. Sessions were made and discounted, Linderman acknowledging that she was trying too hard to coax the songs and...
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The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
Slave Ambient is The War on Drugs second, full-length, album, the band name under which Adam Granduciel crafts his modern tales of Americana. Debut album Wagonwheel Blues was an ode to Springsteen, Earle and early alt-country, full of dust-filled guitars and pained vocals. More surprising was last year’s Future Weather EP which brought a brighter collage of influences to the front – the artwork...
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Trouble Books with Mark McGuire
Hailing from Akron, Ohio, Trouble Books have found their star slowly rising over the past four or five years. Beginning their travels as a word-of-mouth band, they released a series of records based around their unique brand of patchwork pop and cut and paste ambience. With each release they’ve been maturing, the duo slowly perfecting their sound and allowing it to becoming fuller and more...
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R Stevie Moore at The Portland Arms, Cambridge
On a tropical evening in the town of Cambridge, a large crowd were treated to one of the first UK shows from the legendary R Stevie Moore; the godfather of DIY and lo-fi music. Amazingly, this is his first trip to Europe and one funded by a Kickstarter project- a total of over $8000 donated to help fund transportation and the occasional hotel when people’s floors were not available. Joined by...
July 2011
13 posts
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Liminal Minimals July 2011
Three reviews by myself in The Liminal’s monthly short-form review column: Moonface, Forest Swords and Forma.
Read the full column here.
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The Uranus Music Prize 2011
As the dust settles on another year of uninspired Mercury Music Prize nominations, The Liminal have decided upon a selection of 12 albums that far better represent the variety of extraordinary music being produced in Britain today. No entry fee, no token nominations, no cosy industry shindig, no reference to sales figures or the tedious critical consensus which dominates elsewhere: we call it...
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Rachael Dadd – Bite The Mountain
Much has been made about the resurgence of folk music in the last few years. This renaissance has taken place in two main incarnations: “pop” folk (see Mumford and Sons et al ) and a contemporary take on the traditional (see The Unthanks et al). One area that has had more limited press is one of experimental folk. A genre that probably strikes fear into the hearts of many, but one which...
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A Winged Victory For The Sullen – Steep Hills Of...
A taster from the forthcoming album by A Winged Victory for the Sullen which is the collaborative project between Stars Of The Lid founder Adam Wiltzie and L.A. composer Dustin O’Halloran. Featuring some additional musicians, the album is a neo-classical masterpiece, invocative pieces of music that rise and fall like a winged beast, cruising the upper atmosphere of emotion. A Winged Victory For...
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The Liminal Mix 08: Mixed Sax by Machinefabriek
“Sometimes I wished I was a (good) drummer. More often, I wish I could play saxophone. But I didn’t really like the sax untill a few years back. Before that, I associated it with terrible jazz fusion and 80′s pop ballads. Then I heard John Butcher. That was definitely a ‘WTF!?’ experience. From being the uncoolest instrument, it became the coolest. I was amazed by the possibilities of the...
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The Sophtware Slump
It feels like the right time to be re-evaluating Grandaddy’s 90’s opus The Sophtware Slump in light of the current climate. It’s original “concept” was nature vs the computer, and this “battle”, of sorts, feels even more relevant now as we find ourselves corner by social networking, a changing planet and a disintegrating economy.
The reissue features a...