CD-Charts Position 191
Average Rating:

Big Science

CD-Charts > Music > Experimental Music
by: Laurie Anderson

Release Date July 17, 2007
I saw Laurie Anderson perform many of these pieces as part of her 1982/3 tour through Washington, DC. I'd never seen so many people rise so quickly to give her a standing ovation. My older friend, whom I invited, looked at me (seated) and said inquiringly over the din "I don't get it. What's this all about"? Big Science, and the related United States works, established her as the leading avant-garde minimalist lending repetitive quirky iconic visuals to deeply disturbing tone-poems of societal mis-communications and broken attachments. A number of groups such as the Talking Heads dealt with similar themes in more musically engaging ways, but Laurie Anderson cuts out all the melodic fluff and laid bare the emptiness engulfing modern America. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 192
Average Rating:

Warszawa

CD-Charts > Music > Experimental Music
by: Porcupine Tree

Release Date July 18, 2006
Porcupine Tree is one of the finest bands around and this cd, recorded during the Lightbulb Sun tour, delivers in a big way. First off the material for the recording was culled from a Polish radio broadcast with a specially invited studio audience and features the bulk of the "Lightbulb Sun" cd (recently re-released in a gorgeous remastered form/5.1 surround) as well as tracks from "Stupid Dream" and "Signify", for me three of their better recordings (although serious kudos have to go to "In Absentia", "Deadwing" and "Fear Of A Blank Planet" all fine recordings of their own especially thanks to Gavin Harrison's absolutely phenomenal drum work). The recording itself is crystalline and a big improvement on the sound rendered on "Coma Devine".
If ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 193
Average Rating:

Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics

CD-Charts > Music > Experimental Music
by: Jon Hassell, Brian Eno

Release Date August 31, 1990
The best of the Jon Hassell I've heard, and among the best Eno as well - this disc hasn't dated one bit; if anything it was way, way ahead of it's time.

Sparse (as is typical) ambient instrumentation, which in earlier incarnations of ambient music was less techno-oriented, and more drawn from world, jazz and experimental/classical sources; here the prophet synth, Hassell's flugelhorn, Eno's loops and textures and the layered rhythms (somewhat processed and submerged into the mix) are the attractions.

About the only comparison I could make, aside from their own work, would be certain bits of early 1970s Miles Davis, where some similar electronic processing of trumpets (over multi-layered percussion) was happening.

In ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 194
Average Rating:

Noah's Ark

CD-Charts > Music > Experimental Music
by: CocoRosie

Release Date September 13, 2005
This album is great to dream away on a warm summer night. I love the different voices and the experimental use of (animal)sounds.
Also great for Tribal Fusion Bellydance, as I recently discovered thanks to Sharon Kihara!

CD-Charts Position 195
Average Rating:

Beyond the Neighbourhood

CD-Charts > Music > Experimental Music
by: Athlete

Release Date September 25, 2007
I must have told a thousand people how wonderful Athlete's first album was. It was quirky, unique, melodic, I could not have been more effusive than I was, when talking about it. I gritted my teth when "Tourist" came out, and tried ever so hard to like it, but the depth of "Vehicles and Animals" was definitely not present on this second cd. Then "Beyond the Neighbourhood" was issued. What a huge disappointment. Athlete had held so much promise, and now, they seem as if they are just another band putting out sappy radio songs. I do not mean to denigrate those who gave this recording a positive review, but please listen to "Vehicles and Animals." It is truly one of the greatest pieces of popular British music to be released in twenty years. "It's the simple ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 196
Average Rating:

Ambient Collection

CD-Charts > Music > Experimental Music
by: Art Of Noise

Release Date January 14, 1997
I bought all of the AON releases as they came out, starting with 'Into Battle with the Art of Noise'. Through the 80's they had moments of brilliance, moments of stupidity, moments of a rather high silly-to-noise ratio, moments in love...(ahem). Now, this disc is all I need to hear the moments of brilliance. I've disliked every 'greatest hits' package by any artist I can think of, because there always seems to be a track left out or a bad track included. Not here. This really is the best. If you only own one Art of Noise CD, this is it. I first heard this as an MP3 I downloaded. It is so good, I bought the CD (notice to the RIAA).

CD-Charts Position 197
Average Rating:

Detrimentalist

CD-Charts > Music > Experimental Music
by: Venetian Snares

Release Date June 24, 2008
I am not familiar with Snares however I stumbled across this record looking for some modern jungle and Amen break based music, and that is exactly what I found. If you dig Plug's 'Plug EP's 1, 2 & 3', Aphex Twin's Drukqs, Soundmurderer and some of Squarepusher's more frantic works you will definitely 'get' Detrimentalist. By 'get', I mean Detrimentalist is not an easy listen at first, but the more I listen to it the more I get it. The track Gentleman reminds me stylisticly of Plug's track 'Here It Comes'. Koonut-Kaliffee is the most 'accessible' track in my opinion. Bebikukorica Nigiri sounds like jungle on top of a Nintendo video game sound track. Very strange. Overall worthy of several listens. Great programming. Some of the best new jungle since Amen Andrews vs. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 198
Average Rating:

Wrong Way Up (Reissue)

CD-Charts > Music > Experimental Music
by: Eno, Cale

Release Date August 30, 2005
These are two great musical artists, Brian Eno, and John Cale doing music with an invigorating originality, but a definite semblance with melody rhythms like some of John Cale's best stuff. I give this album a great review... but... if you love this album (which it is hard not to), I would follow the route to John Cale's genius solo and Velvet Underground music more than going straight to Brian Eno. A lot of Eno's stuff is similar, I just give the advice to get some Cale stuff first... because Eno is not for everyone all around.

CD-Charts Position 199
Average Rating:

BCD-2

CD-Charts > Music > Experimental Music
by: Basic Channel

Release Date July 08, 2008
It's been a long wait, but Basic Channel has finally given us another compilation of their distinctive dub techno. I gave the previous volume a very positive review, but its value was somewhat diminished by the fact that many of its tracks were in edited form. Fortunately, that's not the case with this follow-up compilation. You get six of their classics in all their uncut, repetitive glory.

Finding the original vinyl is probably out of the question for most people and this is definitely the next best thing. If you're like me, you'll tolerate digital downloads if nothing else is available, but even at 256kb, MP3s are still lossy. While I'm sure these cuts sound best on vinyl, the CD sounds great. It's rich with plenty of detail, even with the notoriously cloudy Basic Channel ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 200
Average Rating:

The Jewels

CD-Charts > Music > Experimental Music
by: Einsturzende Neubauten

Release Date July 15, 2008
It's quite a surprise seeing this album listed as commercially available since the 'Jewels' were supposedly the exclusive reward for supporters whose subscriptions financed the latest EN album-tracks we received periodically throughout the 'Alles Wieder Offen' sessions. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel aggrieved or betrayed- I was happy to support the innovative business model EN have instituted over the last few years. Their subsequent realease makes no difference to me, and if it helps subsidise further EN activity then that's all to the good. As supporters we got more than 'The Jewels' anyway, we got to see the band at work and to discuss their creative process, vicariously participating in and facilitating production of the album that became 'Alles Wieder Offen'(an expanded version of ... Read More: