Wixel - Clouds

1. Cloud Formation

2. Rising Clouds

3. Cloud Fields

4. In Clouds

5. Fog Rainbow

This is the second edition - February - of my awesome and/or stupid 2009 project. For those unaware of the project: It’s a challenge in which I force myself to record and release a record within each month of the year 2009. 

Unlike the January edition called “Winter” there were no constraints for this record, but I quickly felt like I wanted to continue with an idea for music I already touched in “The Aesthetics of Clouds” which you can find on “Winter”. Dense yet soft sounds, slowly moving and progressing, a bit like ... clouds. Most of the songs rely heavily on a sort of tape delay plugin I have, which I fed any sound I felt was appropriate for coloring the cloud. Some compositions are more electronic, others more acoustic, but always cloudy. As you guessed by know, the record is titled “Clouds”. Comparing it to other artists is not so easy, but I would guess a mellow Tim Hecker drone might come close, or maybe you can sense a little bit of similarity to a Stars of the Lid or Mountains composition. I tried to make it drone out, lots of fuzzy/blurry sounds with an undercurrent of melancholic melodies. You should probably listen if this sounds a bit vague..www.2009.bandcamp.com

Wixel - Winter

01. Acoustic Hum
02. The Bergeron Process
03. Winter Waltz #1
04. Dawn Chorus
05. Aesthetics Of Clouds
06. January 4th
07. Stumbling Music #2
08. Melsbroek
09. Winter Waltz #2
10. Vaarwel
11. Stumbling Music #1
12. Aerosan
13. Stumbling Music #3
14. Winter Sun
15. Reading Music

Welcome to the first edition - January - of my awesome and/or stupid 2009 project. It’s a project in which I force myself to record and release a record within each month of the year 2009. There are certain rules and guidelines which I must obey. You can find those at the wixel website. Due to the limited time of recording, and the constant output, this thing will feel very much feel like a personal journal. I have no clue whether it’s going to be interesting or not. It will just exist, I guess. Some months will be more interesting/better sounding than others. I’ll always explain in these liner notes what’s going on each month. 

For the first record my setup included nothing but an acoustic guitar, a microphone and the ableton live software used as a traditional multitrack recorder. No fancy effects, nor fancy plugins. Just the basic controls of recording, cutting, pasting and adjusting the volume. I thought a constraint in options would result in getting more out of less, and at some points I did come across some marvelous sounds. ‘Melsbroek’ for example is nothing but a few hundred recordings of various singles notes, with the volume turned down at each beginning, then slowly turned up while all notes are placed in a way so the guitar starts to sound like an organ. I quite like the effect. 

The record is titled “Winter” because I feel it could be a nice compagnon for the “Herfst” ep I did with Wixel a few years back. The pictures included were all taken during the month of January. It rarely snows this much in Belgium. I like winter...www.2009.bandcamp.com

Cougar - Patriot

01  Stay Famous
02  Florida Logic
03  Rhinelander
04  Pelourinho
05  Thundersnow
06  Heavy Into Jeff
07  Endings
08  This Is An Affidavit
09  Appomattox
10  Daunte v. Armada
11  Absaroka

Cougar finally have someone to release their second album. London-based independent labelNinja Tune, home to an eclectic roster of hip-hop and electronic artists such as Kid Koalaand Daedelus, is slated to release the Madison-formed band's new full-length, Patriot, later this year. The fit is appropriate: Cougar's 2006 album Law is a great instrumental-rock record, but Patriot, recorded with band members spread out around the country, deliberately sounds like less of a "band" record and ventures further into the creatively booming territories of instrumental electronica and left-field hip-hop—though without losing sight of Law's graceful, powerful foundation.

Mimas - The Worries

01 Treehouse

02 Mac, Get Your Gear

03 Dads

04 Fangs

05 Why In The World Not?

06 Dr Phil's Retirement

07 Keep Quiet

08 Cats On Fire

09 Beneath The Glad Sunbeam

For a country which used to provide such a glut of lethal, hulking Vikings for so long, Denmark really does produce a lot of sensitive falsetto whiners now. These days, it's all gloomy indie this and fractal post-rock that, despite the fact that they're officially meant to be the happiest nation on earth. Mimas make no significant departure from the Scandinavian indie template, managing to tick off most of the key elements; soaring, high-pitched vocals, utterly inscrutable lyrics, over-deployment of atmospheric guitar effects, anthropomorphic animals for artwork, all being strapping, handsome young man-giants. They've opted for the straight-up post rock route, and they attack it with confidence and ability, mostly, without ever really reaching the proper crescendos which this kind of stuff aches for. While they're happy to shimmer away at their guitars, they don't bring the big guns often enough. The band would probably argue that that's not what they're going for, and that they're aiming to keep it understated, but it's hard to maintain listeners' interest levels with this sort of music, and six-minute songs need to have pay-offs.They've most in common with Sigur Ros and Explosions In The Sky, and it's a testament to what Mimas have achieved that they don't suffer in comparison to these two titans of the genre, but it's also beginning to look like there is only so much you can do with this style of music. Thus: good, but not essential...www.new-noise.net

The Low Frequency In Stereo - Futuro

1. Turnpike

2. Texas Fox

3. Geordie la forge

4. Mt. Pinatubo

5. Starstruck

6. Sparkle Drive

7. The End Is the End

8. Solar System

From the Eastern-tinged pop flirt of ”Startruck” to the near 10 minute cosmic groove-trip that is ”Solar System”, the new album from this excellent group finds them on top form and taking a big leap from their previous, Norwegian Grammy nominated album. A sharper and more focused effort without a weak track in sight, ”Futuro” is both industrial and rough as well as polished and streamlined. There are nods to fellow Norwegians 120 Days as well as Stereolab, Can, Doors, Joy Divison and even B-52´s, but first of all this is a group that with their fourth album have perfected their own sound.www.runegrammofon.com

Natural Snow Buildings - Laurie Bird

1		Song For Laurie Bird
2		Cockmotherfighting
3		Orisha's Laments

Laurie Birds represents something transcendent and contradictory to the norm of Noise music, it represents a fragile, beautiful piece of music that rewards attentive listeners. The nearly hour long title track is like a great composition interpreted through layers of distortion. Let anyone who doesn’t care to adventure say 2008 was a step down from 2007, all that’ll happen is someone will deny themselves the best and boldest releases of the year...neoavant.com

Sigur Rós – We Play Endlessly

1. Hoppípolla 
2. Inní mér syngur vitleysingur  
3. Saeglópur  
4. Gobbledigook 
5. Í Gær 
6. Fljótavík  
7. Hafsól 
8. Heysátan  
9. Ti Ki 

Sigur Rós album 'We Play Endlessly' will be given away free with The Independent on Saturday on 31 January.

Offered in association with Q magazine, 'We Play Endlessly' features nine tracks taken from three of their critically acclaimed albums, including the hugely popular Hoppípolla and Sæglópur.

And if you're a student, don't forget to get yourstudent discount this weekend as well!...http://www.independent.co.uk

Monroe's Pills - Pets Riot EP

1. Pets 

2. Walking With Lenin 

3. Antennas Of The Soviet Ships 

4. Reconstruction Of Pripyat 

5. Cats In The Cold Water

The Moscow outfit Monroe’s Pills (Tabletki dlia Monro) are no fans of promotional hassle.  The band’s three members leave almost no verbal trace upon the internet, which may be no great loss, since their new recording is extremely impressive and in no evident need of textual support.  The recent, five-track EP, “Pets Riot” may yet prove itself to be one of the best instrumental releases of the year...www.moscow.ucla.edu