jimmie.hu

dirg gerner is a london based musician who specialised in seriously deep and groovy beats, somewhere between soul and electronics. despite his rather mystical (or maybe just reclusive) appearance in media, he is gaining more and more popularity amongst offthegrid insiders and music lovers. his fresh ‘preface ep’ was released a couple of weeks ago on alexander nut’s mini label ‘ho top records’. you might have come across alex before: he is responsible for some decent selections over at rinse fm and together with sam shepherd aka. ‘floating points’ (we’ll get to him soon!) he is in charge of the ego label.

gener’s ‘preface ep’ is an organic, pulsating mix of warm and breathing tunes that might derive from soul, jazz and hiphop roots but certainly (and heavily) landed in the world of fat and driving eletronic sounds. for this one he got in as producer and singer himself - and invited some friends over: besides berliner rahel kraska and london fellow olmo cassibba aka. ‘olmo’ (you should definitely check this guy out) he dropped a massive track called ‘rubies & diamonds’ with the brilliant(!!) fatima. he also released a dope remix by (alter ego?) fLako, member of the project:mooncircle family and other half of kwatro (he’ll be playing in berlin next saturday, with robot koch, long arm and others, by the way.)

you can get the ‘preface ep’ over at bookmat. for now i leave you with a little preview.

enjoy :)

just recently I came across a noticeable jazz trio from up north. splashgirl combine vibrant and colourful jazz music with distinct field recordings, electronic and acoustic sounds and patterns - and just the right susceptibility for a well-balanced mix of all that. their music alters between thouroughly composed ensemble pieces and massive and rather obfuscating noise sculptures, between pulsating time and ambient, moonily sound scapes. splashgirl consists of pianst andreas stensland løwe, drummer andreas lønmo knudsrød and bassist jo berger myhre. you actually have come acros the two latter ones when playing with blokk 5 (definitely worth to check out). originally from norway they released three album thus far of which the latest - pressure - clearly struck me the most. the trio got backed up by several guest musicians on most of their records. being well connected to many other projects and band through out the norwegian jazz scene this brings some nice fresh wind into all of their albums.

after their debut doors.keys. (aim) in 2007 - a decent still, but rather ‘settled’ piece of art, exploring the dimensions of free and yet well organized trio works - they released their follow-up arbor (hubro) in 2009. this one (for me at least) kind of marked a hint to the direction they would move from here on, set well in between structured trio jazz music and experimental, open and inclusive compositions as heard on their latest release. i in love the wide spaces, the precise and thoughtful moves and patterns that evolve throughout arbor. like all their music this one is often set together by minimalistic repetitive structures that through time gain this staggering, pulsating energy. their latest release pressure however was also released on hubro (by the way a beautiful label, featuring mats eilertsen, kjetil brjørnstad, huntsville and more), just another two years after arbor. it features guitarist juhani silvola and partly combines the qualities of the former ones and yet dares to go the whole way, unafraid of any distrubing, abrupt or unsettling findings there may be.

i fell in love with the whole album, but already on my very first listen, i just got struck by one piece in particular: concerning this square caught my attention right away. starting off in a pretty dense, scurrying manner it just builds and builds over time (guests erik johannesen’s trombone and martin taxt’s tuba manage to bring in this wonderful warmth) until it all opens up, revealing a beautifully light, warm and lyric piano ending. you should actually go ahead and have a listen right here. an then check out what else they have got.

oh, they are actually touring right now, so make sure to check their schedule if they are somewhere near you.

well, i guess it’s a classic by now - and that’s not by chance. i just had to feature this brilliant video here… (i know, it’s been around some time. so, if you know it already, just watch it again :)
responsible for this stunning piece of art is of course woodkid, formally known as yoanne lemoine.

all-star lemoine, aged 28, is a well-known producer, photographer, illustrator, video artists - and musician. for his latest (and first!) release as woodkid he compiled a small and beautiful ep, featuring four original tracks, plus two remixes of iron, chipped in by mystery jets and “mysterious” gucci vump (you should check out their unusual and very interesting ep, by the way). the iron ep started off in good company: it was released on green united music (featuring the likes of hindi zahra, gonzales, dani sicilano, craig walker, dan the automator, and many more) and co-produced by julien delfaud and bejamin lebeau, who you might know from their band the shoes (lemoine also produced their latest video wastin’ time. again: definitely worth checking!). what get’s me most about the sound of woodkid - besides his very characteristic, warm and soulful voice, reminding me of the sounds of antony & the johnsons - is the carefully arranged sound, masterly blending electronic, symphonic, soulful, melancholic and acoustic elements. what might seem like a motley collection of quite differing songs at first, fits surprisingly well and makes up one diverse but coherent ep. great music, great engineering - and definitely an impressive debut. lemoine is currently finishing his first album to be released in 2011 still. great stuff ahead.

for his amazing video for iron he (of course) got in as the director, teamed up with mourad belkeddar and mathieu plainfosse, and featured uk model agyness deyn (yep, the owl-lady).

long story short: they killed it.

woon, jamie. 27. london. musician.

and a good one!
after a tiny but beautiful little release in 2007 on live recordings featuring the likes of burial and stitch who contributed two rather groovy points of view to jamie’s bluesy and soulful acoustic tunes and a first signal of life with his really catchy 2009 collab solidify (together with subeena and om’mas keith) jamie woon now bounces back into public with a fresh and decent release on candent songs. it’s called night air and vinyl is shipping from tomorrow via bleep (oct 11th). for this one he again teamed up with the storied burial, who got into play as co-producer and (of course) chips in the groove. in addition to this really smooth, deep and a little melancholic piece they got another expert on the flip: ramadanman and his refix add the right amount of bass, beats and dubby sounds to mix things up for working the dancefloor. as i said, a wonderful musician so get to know him a little right here:

and try his new realease over here:)

oh and here’s a little bonus:
the subeena collab

and the ‘07 burial mix of this little traditional:

wow, that’s a lot of music. so try it, tell me if you like him and in any case - make sure you catch his debut in spring 2011.

i’ll keep you posted ;)

i suppose you know the dark. and if you can wrap it up into sounds and music, there is one guy who mastered this. the results are terrifying, gloomy and yet strangely beautiful sounds, amazingly louring and fascinating. the man who is in charge of all that goes by the name of erik k. skodvin. he is from oslo, norway and you might have come across him and his duo project deaf center. well, apart from that he is also running the absolutely stunning label miasmah. what started of as a netlabel in 2006 is now not only pressing vinyls and cds and working together with such beautiful artists as greg haines, elegi (soon more about them here), jasper tx and jacaszek - it is also a graphic design studio. (actually you should stop reading right now - check out their website and music - and come back here)

i am really impressed not only by the huge output of erik skodvin, but also (and even more) by the intense and speacial quality that seemingly all his works hold. just recently he produced a short little video in collaboration with suki chan, a british director. skodvin got in as the sound and music designer - the outcome is stunning:

as a matter of fact, mr. skodvin is rather prolific. thus, he is an active solo-musician himself. as svarte greiner he has released pretty unsettling and intense music, besides others on digitalis (2010) and his debut knive in 2006 on type (that you might have come across here before. you should check out the wonderful set he prepared for their typecast series. it’s the first one in 5 years and holds some notable rarities). his latest work flare, however, will be released on the berlin label sonic pieces (also absolutely worth a visit. wonderful artwork.) you can get it as soon as october 22nd, but you can have a first glimpse at what is going on right here, right now :)

well i suppose you know the dark. this is it.

i admit, i’m a little late. but i just came across this collaboration a few days ago - and it’s arresting! credit goes to two remarkable figures of music: first is the label loaf recordings from london. second is the rather special arctic circle collective. the team around ben eshmade is a group of musicians, artists and promoters who love good music and support young and unknown artists as well as old stagers - by doing concerts, festivals, sessions, a beautiful radio and - of course - records. at the latest after their highly recognized compilation that fuzzy feeling (an absolute recommendation) in 2007 these guys made sure you want to keep an eye on what’s going on when they are teaming up.

well, at least you better do: in january 2010 they launched a one-year collaboration to  publish wonderful music. the explorers club is a monthly digital release of selected music, featuring more than 30 artists - some of them well known, other more of a secret tip. you will find the likes of johann johannsson, peter broderick, nils frahm, ryan teague,  and many more represented by pretty interestig labels (type, static caravan, 4ad, etc.). a true treasure trove of woderful music and special moments that is released digitally, but, however, comes with a survival-kit of artwork, posters, bags, and little goodies.

by the way: the name explorers club is said to be derived from the concept of facing the unknown, that is sending their artists in the hinterland without maps and directions to bring back extraordinary and rare sounds from the wild. i am not to appraise if that’s true or not - as long as the result is that good i won’t ask ;)

check out the past six month’s of the explorers club releases right here right now. a few tips for listening are (most definately) sweet billy pilgrim, (my all-time favourite) peter broderick and the (pretty interesting) sons of noel & adrian.

jan, feb, mar.

penguins rule.