HARDHOUND

Being – The Folkestone Lighthouse EP; loscil – City Hospital – Reissue (Wist Records)

Author: Colin | Published: 15/6/13

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Wist Rec.

Artist 1-9: Being; 10-15: loscil
Title 1-9: The Folkestone Lighthouse EP; 10-15: City Hospital
Label Wist Records
Year 2012/13
Design 1-9: Manfred Naescher; 10-15: Phantom & Son, Intl.
Music Ambient/electronic/field recordings
Notes There’s a small wealth of information secreted within each of these two releases. The envelopes are referred to by Gary Mentanko, label co-founder with designer Manfred Naescher, as a jackdaw folder. It’s not a term I’ve encountered before, but there’s a poetry to the term that I like.

Wist Records is a fascinating project for anyone interested in oblique approaches to liminal subjects such as, in these particular cases, lighthouses and long-lost hospitals.

The balance between the rich textual and visual material and the brief 3 inch CDs containing wisps of electronic music and field recordings is unusual. As Mentanko writes “we try to emphasise larger concepts in all of our releases, the passing of time, the degradation of the environment as well as community.”

The rest of Wist Records’ catalogue is also well worth investigating.

This is what the label has to say about itself:

We’re an environmentally friendly, independent label dealing in short form, handmade music. As the monetary predominance of music is lessened, the importance of DIY music has grown more & more essential in framing new ways of listening. Thematically, we chart ecology, topography, rural abandonment and education. We are devoted to quiet, scraggly, distant sounds, tactile paper grain and good home cookin’.

Please compare such poetic, beautifully researched and delightfully attractive artifacts to your next or most recent mp3 download.

Listen

Big Cosmos – Illuminance

Author: Colin | Published: 9/6/13
Previous Mount Kimbie Next Being – The Folkestone Lighthouse EP; loscil – City Hospital – Reissue (Wist Records)

Big Cosmos

Big Cosmos

Big Cosmos

Big Cosmos

Big Cosmos

Big Cosmos

Big Cosmos

Big Cosmos

Big Cosmos

Big Cosmos

Big Cosmos

Big Cosmos

Artist Big Cosmos
Title Illuminance
Label Blessing Force Records
Year 2012
Design All artwork and design by Claire Baily
Music Songform
Notes When I opened the parcel and found this laser-cut cabinet and before I slid the top off, I expected to find a CD. Instead there was a USB bracelet, a booklet and a poster. I’m struck that such a relatively sizable physical object should contain only digital files, in fact I like it. In the booklet the listener is entreated to:

“… share the music… Take the wristband around to a friend’s house, wear it to the pub, pass it around the office, or simply share the songs online via your Facebook or Twitter etc…”

It’s the great contemporary challenge, to be more than a needle in a haystack. I also like instruction number 4:

“Use the box as you wish; place it on your mantlepiece, use it as a paper weight, store all your secret love letters inside it.”

Here’s wishing Big Cosmos the best of luck.

Listen

Mount Kimbie

Author: Colin | Published: 29/5/13
Previous rotor plus – Map Key Window, Dust, Aileron Next Big Cosmos – Illuminance

You can colour me a fan of Mount Kimbie’s work, well, at least their debut album, Crooks and Lovers (their singles don’t do so much for me). I’m also a fan of the artwork of the first album which suited the duo’s delightfully contemporary take on the experience of summer in the (south London) city:

mount-kimbie-crooks1

mount-kimbie-crooks1

mount-kimbie-crooks1

Their subsequent EP, Carbonated, continued the theme:

mount-kimbie-crooks1

Which makes the front cover of their sophomore release, Cold Spring Fault Less Youth all the more disappointing. Granted, the new album sees Mount Kimbie diversifying musically, but to these ears it’s still suffused with a sense of place that’s lost to this abstract, Matisse-like design:

mount-kimbie-crooks1

rotor plus – Map Key Window, Dust, Aileron

Author: Colin | Published: 27/5/13
Previous Maud Lübeck – Lobotom Next Mount Kimbie

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor plus

rotor-plus2b-1

rotor plus

rotor plus

Artist rotor plus
Title 1-9: Map Key Window; 10-13: Dust; 14-16: Aileron
Label The Radiophonics Trading Company of New Zealand
Year 1-9: 2004; 10-13: 2012; 14-16: 2000
Design Design, layout and editing: Mr R. Shaw
Music Electronic, ambient, filmic
Notes There’s a playful sense of mystery to this trilogy, released over a period of more than a decade and united by their format and oblique references. They’re delightfully presented and convey to this little-travelled observer a sense of experiences and narratives unfolded at a remote distance. Whether the images and scraps of information, handwritten and typed, or the extended liminal compositions take precedence probably depends on each individual’s take.

The tone of the texts appears to arrives from a past that – at least in the imagination – enjoyed greater decorum, perhaps the 1930s or ’50s. Connections, however tenuous, gradually establish themselves independently of the observer.

If you’re intrigued by enigmas or enjoy surrendering yourself to daydreams and riddles, rotor plus is for you. You can purchase the three releases here.

Listen Listen on the r + Bandcamp page

Maud Lübeck – Lobotom

Author: Colin | Published: 12/5/13
Previous Record made of wood Next rotor plus – Map Key Window, Dust, Aileron

Maud Lübeck - Lobotomc

Maud Lübeck - Lobotomc

Maud Lübeck - Lobotomc

Maud Lübeck - Lobotomc

Maud Lübeck - Lobotomc

Maud Lübeck - Lobotomc

Maud Lübeck - Lobotomc

Maud Lübeck - Lobotomc

Maud Lübeck - Lobotomc

Artist Maud Lübeck
Title Lobotom
Label 7ème Ciel
Year 2012
Design Graphisme/Illustrations: Damian O’Hara
Music text
Notes This is the second time Hard Format has featured 7ème Ciel. I have a soft spot for music presented in books and Damian O’Hara’s bold, graphic design and illustrations don’t disappoint. The 30 or so minutes of music are beguiling, but all too brief. Here’s what 7ème Ciel’s website has to say about this project:

Lobotom charts the adventures of Emma, a young woman who is charmed by a real estate ad for a house to let on an island. When she enters the house, she falls through the floor and continues her tour in the haunted basement. She then finds herself in a strange and unusual universe. It is none other than her own body and she wants to take possession of it.

Also Birch Book
Listen This isn’t the music on this album, but I couldn’t find a sample so will have to suffice. I liked it anyway.

Record made of wood

Author: Colin | Published: 10/5/13
Previous Memory Drawings – Music For Another Loss; Directorsound – I Hunt Alone (Second Language) Next Maud Lübeck – Lobotom

Made by Amanda Ghassaei who previously made a record using a 3d printer. Beautiful to behold.

Details on Wired.

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