Category Archives: News

New music – Cybotron: Maintain The Golden Ratio

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In 1983, Cybotron made one of dance music’s landmark records. The single ‘Clear’ became a calling card for techno, a futuristic piece that still sounds new today. Now they are returning as a duo, original founder Juan Atkins teaming up with producer Laurens von Oswald but not Rik Davis.

A two-part EP, Maintain The Golden Ratio, is scheduled for release on the Tresor label on 13 October – and for now we can enjoy its lead track Maintain. Described as ‘a studied engagement with what techno was and should be, it is an atmospheric machine piece with strong breakbeat, busy electronics and moody backdrop. In other words, as the vocal goes, “We will maintain”…with the elements that made Clear such a lasting track largely present and correct. While not quite on that exalted level, it is still a fine piece of work. Now to see if there are more plans afoot!

New music – Roger Eno: Tidescape

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British producer and composer Roger Eno has hit a rich vein of form in recent years – and his prolific writing period continues with the The skies, they shift like chords…, due to be released on Deutsche Grammophon on 13 October.

On the press release for The skies, they shift like chords… Eno describes the world in a dozen musical watercolours based on spontaneous sketches, tracing an evocative and thought-provoking path through sound and silence. “I think of music in visual terms. Perhaps here the chords could be the earth, the melody the trees rising above ground, and the atmosphere of floating guitar could be the sky. These three elements are different but interconnected.” He adds, “Most of my pieces are snapshots of things that were experienced in the moment,” says Eno. “How do you describe the world unless it’s in an instant? You can’t fix anything because everything is in flux, it’s changing and mutable.”

Here is the first excerpt from the album, Tidescape, in the form of a visualizer:

New music – Vince Clarke: The Lamentations of Jeremiah

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Yesterday Vince Clarke, founding member of Depeche Mode, Erasure and Yazoo, and all-round electronic maestro, announced a new album.

Due on 17 November on Mute, Songs of Silence is described as an ‘ambient instrumental album’. Its first single, The Lamentations of Jeremiah, represents a striking musical structure. A haunting solo cello line takes the lead, a true lament set against a drone accompaniment. It is certainly dark, but has at its heart an outpouring of emotion that is ultimately positive. Listen below:

New Music at the BBC Proms

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For our UK readers, a nod in the direction of BBC4 tonight – where there is a chance to experience some of the standout new music heard during this year’s BBC Proms festival.

There is a chance to experience more of one of today’s standout orchestral composers, Andrea Tarrodi – her Birds Of Paradise is featured, inspired by footage from David Attenborough’s Planet Earth and performed by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, conducted by Pekka Kuusisto (above, photographed by Mark Allan).

From the first night comes Let There Be Light, by Ukrainian composer Bohdana Frolyak, while the National Youth Orchestra perform The Whole World, a heady new work from Errolyn Wallen.

You can watch from 8pm here

In appreciation – Brian McBride

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by Ben Hogwood. Photo by Steve Molter

Yesterday we learned of the sad and unexpected passing of Brian McBride, one half of the influential ambient duo Stars of the Lid.

Together with band mate Adam Wiltzie, McBride made subtly mesmerising music that left a lasting impression on its listeners. Influenced by but not restricted to modern classical music, the pair set about creating a unique sound, predominantly drone-based but carefully and beautifully constructed. Much of their best work was realised on the Kranky label, who revealed the news of McBride’s unexpectedly early passing.

This tribute on Pitchfork tells a fuller story, but in order to fully appreciate McBride’s genius, here are two listening links – one to the landmark Stars of the Lid album and their Refinement of the Decline, and one to McBride’s solo album When The Detail Lost Its Freedom