March Top 10

This month brings with it another strong line up of releases from our top 10 selection all doing the rounds on both broadcast channels at the moment…

1. Eleh – Location Momentum

Eleh has been an enigma since the first record under that name was released in 2006. In numbered editions with letterpressed sleeves, usually on Important Records from the U.S.A., these vinyl-only releases were evidently a labour of love and attention. Further recordings have been released on the labels Taiga and Touch, making 11 vinyl editions in all. Full details here

2. Aaron Martin – Worried About The Fire

It is an album that slowly lures you in. Starting with downright dark, hypnotic drones, “Albee” is an unnerving opening laced with subtle string sounds over a looping humming of noise. It’s a track that offers no clues as to what will follow, and indeed the set-up of harmonica, banjo, organ and bell sounds that feature on this album throughout bring an ambiguity to the overall sound. Full details here

3. Monolyth & Cobalt – Rives

Mathias works with many acoustic instruments like Harmonium, Piano, Various Strings, melodica and some human sound such as breath on tape. He also uses modern technology inclusing samplers, sequencer & effects processors but his cinematic soundscapes never lose their organic feel and human emotion. Full details here

4. Danny Paul Grody – Fountain

Centered around sparkling acoustic guitar motifs, the album unfolds as a series of hypnotic mood pieces and evening hymns with a spectral lyricism invoking scenes of moving images and passing landscapes. Conceived from a collection of home recordings made over the course of a year, the album perfectly distills many of the musical forms from which Grody gravitates towards, namely the chiming kora music of West Africa, the 70’s wave of American underground acoustic guitar players, and a number of long form / drone composers and performers. Full details here

5. Balmorhea – Constellations

The disarming simplicity of the tracks on Constellations proves that Balmorhea doesn’t need dense arrangements full of 180 degree turns to craft deeply affecting compositions. More than just self-imposed limitation, the scale of this collection of songs introduces a sense of intimacy and perspective through their skillful use of space and restraint. Full details here

6. A Broken Consort – Crow Autumn

Here is an album that requires great focus from the listener; such is the detailing of each track. Perhaps best suited for headphone listening, to be able to absorb all the rich texturing, Crow Autumn is also a deeply personal record for the recording artist, inspired here by the landscapes of his native Lancashire. Full details here

7. The Moving Dawn Orchestra – Dials

Electro-acoustic contemporary classical instrumentals: Dials is a graceful suite of four mid-length compositions with minimalist sparsity and contemporary beauty. The wistful pianos, rich with reverb; the sombre string textures and the absence of percussive beats give the music a seductive timelessness. Full details here

8. S – Im Not As Good At It As You

Im not as good at it as you, coming out on the Luxembourg-based label Own Records: Much like Sadstyle, the songs are deceptively sparse, though Ghetto’s breathy vocals are often layered with achingly-beautiful harmonies. The multi-directional guitar lines and break-neck tempo changes are again in effect, but it’s the maturity of the songwriting as a whole that makes this collection stand out from its predecessors. Full details here

9. Loscil – Endless Falls

Endless Falls is the fifth full length release by Scott Morgan under the loscil moniker. The album begins and ends with the sound of rain recorded by Scott in his back yard, precipitation being a constant presence in his home city of Vancouver. Many of the other sounds on the album are derived from these same recordings, processed and combined with other harmonic sounds to create the textures and drones. Full details here

10. Dollboy – Ghost Stations

The music on Ghost Stations finds Dollboy conjuring the haunted spirit of these stations, basing his atmospherically charged compositions on field recordings captured at sites on both the U-bahn and the London Underground. As he says in the accompanying notes: “I have tried to imagine the spirits of those that might have passed through: commuters, revellers, spies, worshipers and the decaying remnants of ghostly dance orchestras.” Full details here