Proxy XIX: Media Kingdom

Keith Kenniff mustn’t sleep at all, after releasing the incredible Goldmund album ‘Corduroy Road’ for Type early in 2005 he was already busy at work crafting his second record as Helios; all this while finishing a degree at the acclaimed Berklee College of Music in Boston! ‘Eingya’ is very different from his work as Goldmund, as it incorporates not only his piano playing, but his delicate touch on guitar, drums and his masterful electronic production. It is an album of wordless songs, eleven carefully measured movements, each holding inside it an entire movie’s worth of emotion. Beginning the album on a high with the pastural beauty of ‘Bless This Morning Year’ we witness a showcase already of what Kenniff does best; hearbreaking guitar and piano melodies punctuated by crumbling beats and backed by the most atmospheric synthesizer sounds this side of Eno’s ‘Apollo’. Moving on we are treated to the appetising ‘Halving the Compass’ which blends subtle field recording with the kind of piano melodies so beautiful they could be compared to Virginia Astley or Harold Budd. This is followed by the album’s clear highlight – ‘Dragonfly Across an Ancient Land’; an unsurpassable folk guitar piece with a decomposing percussive background and the sort of melodies that would turn evil tyrants into weeping babies. An album which could as easily appeal to fans of Nick Drake as fans of Boards of Canada or even early Air; this truly has something for everyone. To put it simply – it’s gorgeous.

Tracklisting:
1 Bless This Morning Year (6:01)
2 Halving The Compass (5:27)
3 Dragonfly Across An Ancient Sky (5:41)
4 Vargtimme (3:58)
5 For Years And Years (5:33)
6 Coast Off (4:53)
7 Paper Tiger (4:33)
8 First Dream Called Ocean (3:51)
9 The Toy Garden (4:43)
10 Sons Of Light And Darkness (4:32)
11 Emancipation (2:35)

Label: Type Records
Catalog#: TYPE 011
Format: CD
Country: UK
Credits: Artwork By [Illustration] – Matthew Woodson // Mastered By – Andreas Tilliander // Written By – Keith Kenniff
Notes: «I’m not who I have in memory // Nor who is in me now. // If I think, I self-dismember. // If I believe, there is no end. // -Pessoa»
Genres: post-rock / ambient
Links: Official Website || @MySpace || @Last.FM || @Discogs
Grade: 10/10 Обычно слушаю по хронологии, но тут пошёл вопреки своему правилу. Включил первые треки с обоих имеющихся альбомов и в настроение попал именно «Bless This Morning Year» из сабжа. Субботний вечер, рассеянный свет в комнате, на улице темно, веет свежестью, сквозь прикрытую дверь доносится перебранка сестры с матерью. Я на балконе, наблюдаю, как дворы умащиваются спать, утыкаясь в змейки домов, греясь светом фонарей. И играет Helios. Очень хотелось заморозить этот кадр.
Bitrate: 192
Download: @InfoStore [UA-IX] || @MegaUpload || @RapidShare [pass4rar: feelthatsound] || @SendSpace

Captured to tape by Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio studios in Chicago, IL, You Are There extends the cinematic drama of 2003’s Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined (also recorded by Albini), while surpassing the sinister heaviness of 2002’s lauded One Step More and You Die. MONO disproves the myth that an increased focus on intricate song structures and string arrangements comes at the expense of youthful energy and inspired aggression. With You Are There, MONO’s representation of tragedy comes with an inherent joy, delivered with the hope that in all dark there is equal parts light. They’re not heavy like Black Sabbath – they’re heavy like Beethoven.

Tracklisting:
1 The Flames Beyond The Cold Mountain (13:29)
2 A Heart Has Asked For The Pleasure (3:43)
3 Yearning (15:38)
4 Are You There? (10:25)
5 The Remains Of The Day (3:41)
6 Moonlight (13:04)

Label: Temporary Residence Limited
Catalog#: TRR 98
Format: CD
Country: US
Credits: Arranged By [Strings] – Susan Vøelz, Takaakira Goto // Cello – Alison Chesley, Diana Parameter // Mastered By – John Golden // Mixed By – Steve Albini // Performer, Songwriter – Takaakira Goto, Tamaki, Yasunoris Takada, Yoda // Producer – Mono // Recorded By – Steve Albini // Violin – Inger Peterson Carle, Susan Vøelz, Thomas Yang
Genres: post-rock / newgaze
Links: Official Website || @MySpace || @Last.FM || @Discogs || @Wikipedia
Grade: 10/10 Listen, and think about all the unloved and left behind children.
Bitrate: VBR
Download: @InfoStore [UA-IX] || @MegaUpload

(1) There’s something idealistic and almost romantic about the idea of two music industry veterans coming together to create music for the sake of creating art, rather than performing to fulfill some contractual obligation to fit into the mold of another artist whose money is fueling the music. Such was the situation that Andrew Thompson and Marc Byrd found themselves in, as they, through music, came together to combat the fatigue brought on by being hired hands in the music industry. The pair decided to release their elongated ambient recordings under the name Hammock, and what was originally intended as a labor of love became an international sensation in the independent/shoegaze/dreampop/post-rock world. Hammock’s releases last year, the full-length Kenotic, the EP Stranded Under Endless Sky, and the concept project The Sleepover Series Volume 1 wowed music listeners with their lush strands of delayed guitars playing haunting melodies. (…) It’s hard to describe, but somehow, the band is able to pour their music into the very souls of the listeners, and animates the listener’s inward meditations, prayers, thoughts, and longings. (2) Beautifully droning, cascading landscapes of sound. Raising Your Voice…Trying to Stop an Echo is the second full-length release from the duo of Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson. These two fellows write and compose wonderfully thick, lush instrumentals with a difference. The compositions on this album might best be described as shoegazer instrumentals…although the music is actually far more substantial than that tag might imply. These soothing, intricate tunes flow by like mild ocean currents…with each one having its own subtle personality. We hear a lot of artists creating this sort of music…but very few who do so with a style as precisely defined as Hammock. Eighteen sparkling gems here…quite soothing, hypnotic, and calming… (3) Raising Your Voice…Trying to Stop an Echo is the anticipated follow up to Hammock’s debut, Kenotic, a record that All Music Guide described as “…in every way a contender for classic status in the Shoegazing genre.” (…) The duo’s eighteen newest tracks will do little to change that cross-genre appeal. Raising Your Voice…Trying to Stop an Echo is characterized by the duo’s hallmark: thick curtains of cascading electric guitars that merge into pure expressions of hope, stillness, joy and loss. Accompanied by strings, piano, ethereal vocals and an occasional undercurrent of percussion, these beautiful, layered guitar washes range from whisper-soft minimalism to moments of driving, slow-burn intensity. (…) «…a perfect combination of the swirling, amorphous beauty of ambient music and the passionate pulse of electronica.” –Brian Baker, Amplifier Magazine «…music in the spirit of Japanese art—simple by form, but it’s full of complexity in its tone and its timbres» –Bob Boilen, NPR, All Songs Considered.

Tracklisting:
1. I Can Almost See You (4:13)
2. Raising Your Voice… Trying To Stop An Echo (5:02)
3. Losing You To You (6:22)
4. When The Sky Pours Down Like A Fountain (5:22)
5. The House Where We Grew Up (4:16)
6. God Send Us A Signal (4:33)
7. Clouds Cover The Stars (1:28)
8. Floating Away In Every Direction (6:41)
9. Take A Drink From My Hands (4:59)
10. Startle The Heavens (Lament) (4:19)
11. More Dead Than Alive (Get Away From The Medicine) (1:11)
12. Disappear Like The Morning… (4:46)
13. …Like Starlight Into Day (3:54)
14. Shipwrecked (Flat On Your Back) (3:58)
15. Chorus Of Trees (2:11)
16. Passing Away (5:07)
17. Will You Ever Love Yourself? (5:47)
18. Sparkle And Fade (1:13)

Label: Darla Records
Catalog#: DRL176
Format: CD
Country: US
Credits: photography by Thomas Petillo
Genres: newgaze / dream pop / ambient
Links: Official Website || Official Blog || @MySpace || @Last.FM || @Discogs
Grade: 10/10 Эти ребята делятся с нами красотами североамериканского юга. И в новом альбоме Hammock остаются верными своему звучанию – музыка такая же мягкая и обволакивающая. Если бы умел делать AMVшки, обязательно слепил бы на одну из композиций альбома, используя в качестве визуального ряда аниме “обещанное место по ту сторону облаков / kumo no mukô, yakusoku no basho / the place promised in our early days” (2004). Как по мне, мульт нарисован с огромной нежностью, очень подходит. А песня “Raising Your Voice… Trying To Stop An Echo” вообще очень точно передаёт моё самочувствие на данном этапе. An essential track.
Bitrate: VBR
Download: @InfoStore [UA-IX] || @UploadComUA [UA-IX]