Wednesday, December 16, 2015

anatomy 26 - amandra

surprise! here's another anatomy mix...


a french artist currently living in warsaw, poland, amandra crafts expansive, slowly evolving techno. he's one of the minds behind ahrpe records, a label that's been home to his two EPs - monkaunis, ahrpe's first transmission in mid-2014, and lutsin from earlier this year, which came with a very cool korridor remix - along with similarly hypnotizing stuff from fellow co-founder ovend and (recently) flogo.

amandra and i first connected many months ago, and i knew through his work as a producer and label owner that he'd be a great fit for an anatomy mix. with this nearly 75-minute dj set, he digs into a deep groove that leans heavily on older music, but also woven in are three resonating, bassline-driven cuts from his own next release, the drachme tolosate double EP that'll be come out on ahrpe in february. sorry, no interview or tracklist for this one... only sounds, along with some artwork from a photo amandra took in veracruz, mexico.

i'm looking for a new home for the anatomy series, since official.fm seems to be in the midst of a change in name and format. for now, you can download anatomy 26 through my dropbox link, and/or you can listen and download at amandra's soundcloud page. do it to it:


(dropbox download link!)

huge thanks to amandra for joining the fun. (and for being patient!) you can also grab a recording of his recent live set in warsaw over at soundcloud. over the next month or so, perhaps there will be a couple more anatomy mixes. until then, enjoy this one and look out for amandra's upcoming double EP... and as usual, thanks for listening!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

favorites from 2014

as i looked back at my favorite music releases from 2014, i realized it would be way too hard to trim down to a simple top-10 list like i've done with my previous yearly picks. there was just way too much good music, including, very happily enough, a lot of great ambient and experimentally-inclined stuff, to try and limit myself. so this time around, i've made three lists covering more than 60 total releases, and i'm keeping words to a minimum. first, a group of albums i loved and listened to more than anything else. then, a set of "honorable mentions" or whatever - great albums i discovered (and remembered) throughout the year, along with a few key reissues. lastly, another long list of some of my favorite EPs. also, i've included links to free full online streams (bandcamp and soundcloud) when i could find them.

i'm sure i've missed something, but for now this will do. in no particular order (and with discogs links for more info), my absolute favorites:

anjou - anjou 
kranky (discogs 
 


vladislav delay - visa
ripatti (discogs) (free stream)


Ø - konstellaatio
sähkö (discogs
 


pan sonic - oksastus (live in ukraine)  
kvitnu (discogs
 


peder mannerfelt - lines describing circles 
digitalis (discogs) (free stream)
 


HTRK - psychic 9-5 club
ghostly international (discogs)
 


abdulla rashim - unanimity 
northern electronics (discogs) (free stream)
 


eric holm - andøya
subtext (discogs
 


kassem mosse - workshop 19 
workshop (discogs)
 

... and in alphabetical order, here's more great albums, including a few reissues, that are definitely worth a trip or two (or more).

alan backdrop - eria | ekar (free stream)
alessandro cortini - sonno | hospital productions
ambarchi/o'malley/dunn - shade themes from kairos | drag city

angel - terra null. | editions mego
black rain - dark pool | blackest ever black (free stream)
cloudface - untitled | opal tapes (free stream)
deru - 1979 | friends of friends (free stream)
dj sprinkles - midtown 120 blues | comatonse [reissue]
donato dozzy & nuel - the aquaplano sessions | spectrum spools [reissue]
the durian brothers - das macht modern | kontra-musik

efdemin - decay | dial
function : vatican shadow - games have rules | hospital productions
grouper - ruins | kranky
hands - the soul is quick | ecstatic (free stream)
imaginary softwoods - the path of spectrolite | archives intérieures [reissue] (free stream)

jo johnson - weaving | further records (free stream)
jonas reinhardt - ganymede | constellation tatsu (free stream)
kettenkarussell - easy listening | giegling
lawrence - a day in the life | mule musiq
lawrence english - wilderness of mirrors | room40
lee gamble - KOCH | pan
lucy - churches schools and guns | stroboscopic artefacts
millie & andrea - drop the vowels | modern love (free stream)

murcof & eric truffaz - being human being | mundo recordings
NHK'Koyxeи - dance classics vol. III | pan [december '13 release but whatever]
patricia - body issues | black opal (free stream)
perc - the power & the glory | perc trax (free stream)

sons of magdalene - move to pain | audraglint (free stream)
scuba death - nitrogen narcosis | further records (free stream)

talker - hari/LP | downwards
ulwhednar - 1520 | northern electronics (free stream)
various - collection | field records [compilation]

... lastly, a stack of very nice EPs that proved to be keepers, including lots of techno records. alphabetical order, again:

arkadelphia - new sun | NORD
bookworms - compact visual nature | NORD
broken english club - jealous god 04 | jealous god
casual violence - expression unrelated | plector
 

claudio prc - moderskärlek | trolldans
conforce - depth over distance | delsin
dasha rush - timid ocean drawings | deep sound channel
dscrd - panopticon | DEMENT3D
donato dozzy - dimensions | mental groove [reissue]
donato dozzy - terzo giorno | stroboscopic artefacts
drøp - vasundhara | arboretum

earthen sea - mirage | lovers rock
 

erika - hexagon cloud RMXD 2.0 | interdimensional transmissions
ESHU - chlore | ESHU records
grey branches - lower bounds | inner surface music
J&L - ramayana chant | ESHU records 
juho kahilainen - dyson sphere | M_REC LTD
ko-ta - festimask | tikita [reissue]
ligovskoï - dilip EP and remixes | DEMENT3D
 

max_m & fabrizio lapiana - 1002 | M_REC LTD
orphx - sacrifice | sonic groove
outer space - phantom center | editions mego 
phil moffa - elevation / ENO-UGH | most excellent unltd
PMH - entrance | finitude music
samuel kerridge - deficit of wonder | blueprint
sigha - the purification loops | avian
skarn - revolver | avian
stanislav tolkachev - right angle | semantica

surgeon - fixed action pattern | token
T.E.W. - eighteen | electronique.it
yuka - episodes of yesterday | silent season

various (stephanie sykes, fjäder) - luna tactus | fullpanda
various (etapp kyle, mod21, artefakt) - prologue portefuille 3 | prologue
voices from the lake - velo di maya | the bunker new york
wata igarashi - junctions | midgar


.... and that's that. lots of great music, i say!

if you've made it this far, thanks for reading! smilecoldanatomy will continue to be slow-moving for the time being, so feel free to follow me on twitter. i post fairly often there, including about music and art and science things.

end: 2014, begin: 2015