Rare Frequencies: The best of the spring's fringe harvest

Published Mar 18 2009, 11:46 AM by Susanna Bolle

Lawrence English

There’s a fine array of experimental- and electronic-music releases set to bloom this spring. Here are five choice examples:

LAWRENCE ENGLISH | A COLOUR FOR AUTUMN | 12k | This seasonal release on 12k is a bit out of sequence, but the hazy, sublime sounds of A Colour for Autumn are perfect listening any time of year. Australia’s Lawrence English, who runs the Room40 label, uses a delicate mix of field recordings, live instruments, and electronics to evoke the beautiful tension of a season that is somehow neither here nor there.
DOWNLOAD: Lawrence English, “Galaxie of Dust” (mp3)

ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER | ZONES WITHOUT PEOPLE | Arbor | Former local boy and current Brooklynite Daniel Lopatin (a/k/a Oneohtrix Point Never) makes no secret of his love for the trippy, cosmic sounds of early-’70s German synth music. This April he’s releasing his second solo vinyl full-length, and it’s pure retro-synthetic bliss. If you like the mellow synth stylings of Michigan’s ballyhoo’d Emeralds but could stand a little less guitar noodling, you will love Oneohtrix Point Never.
DOWNLOAD: Oneohtrix Point Never, “Zones Without People” (mp3)

AREA C | THE PLANETARIUM PROJECT | Sedimental | In 2007 and 2008, guitarist Erik Carlson (a/k/a Area C) played four multi-media concerts in the Cormack Planetarium in downtown Providence. At each show, he collaborated with a different local improviser to create a loosely structured composition to go along with the Planetarium’s charmingly old-fashioned star-chart projections. This spring he’s releasing a collection of four meditative 30-minute-long pieces from these performances.
DOWNLOAD: Area C with Black Forest/Black Sea, "The Planetarium Project [Excerpt]" (mp3)

HECKER | ACID IN THE STYLE OF DAVID TUDOR | Editions Mego | Austrian sound artist Florian Hecker is known for unleashing some seriously ferocious digital mayhem. His latest solo CD, due May 12, combines 20th-century avant-garde composition (as represented by the composer/pianist David Tudor) and the glowstick madness of rave culture. True to form, the results are a challenging, mind-altering listen with squelchy vintage synth sounds pinballing across the stereo field.

MARTYN | GREAT LENGTHS | 3024 | Producer Martin Deykers (a/k/a Martyn) made some of the loveliest dubstep-meets-techno 12-inches of 2008, among them the slinkily brilliant “Suburbia.” This spring his first full-length is due on his own 3024 imprint. To judge from his recent set here at Good Life and the clips on his MySpace page, it should be a corker.

Filed Under: mp3, Lawrence English, Martyn, Hecker, Oneohtrix Point Never

Lawrence English

Lawrence English is a media artist, composer and critic based in Brisbane, Australia. Working across a broad range of investigations, English’s work is eclectic and...

Martyn

Martyn is a Dubstep producer, originally from Eindhoven in the Netherlands. After helping start up an influential Drum and Bass night 'Red Zone' in his...

Hecker

Florian Hecker was born in 1975 in Augsburg. He currently lives and works in Vienna. Hecker has been working with computer music, independently and in...

Oneohtrix Point Never

Oneohtrix Point Never is Daniel Lopatin, a.k.a. KGB Man. He plays synths forever. www.pointnever.com www.myspace.com/pointnever

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Filed Under: mp3, Lawrence English, Martyn, Hecker, Oneohtrix Point Never, Area C

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Rare Frequencies: The best of the spring's fringe harvest

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