Over 75 albums have been announced for April alone, enough for us to run an unprecedented Part II of our Spring Music Preview. Samples of almost everything listed can be found on our News page, but for more, start here!
As one reader/artist remarked recently, “ACL is making me broke!” This year, the April showers have hit in full force. With more to choose from than ever, it’s good to have so many samples available online, and we have gathered them all in one place on our News page. This is probably a good time to remind our readers that our page is updated almost daily ~ new releases go up as soon as we hear about them, while current releases are removed from the page after their release dates pass. We will be making a small exception this week to give everyone the chance to catch up on music released April 1 and later. We can’t review everything, but when we hear about something in advance, we’re more than happy to spread the word.
Everything on this page is new to this feature; for Part I of the Spring Music Preview, click here.
Ambient
Grzegorz Bojanek says goodbye to winter with the 2-track Warm Winter Music (Twin Springs Tapes), a reflection of the fact that this past winter was inordinately harsh in the U.S. and mild in Europe. More winter music can be found on Yair Elazar Glotman‘s Northern Gulfs (April 1), continuing the theme we’ve come to expect from the Glacial Movement label. X.Y.R.‘s Artikla is a winter tape that arrives as part of Constellation Tatsu’s Spring Batch (April 1); the porthole cover serves as an invitation and a metaphor. The other tapes in the batch are Les Halles‘ highly spiritual Invisible Cities and Unicity‘s synthesized, self-titled, slow-rolling Unicity. But the most elaborate release in the cold winter music category is Monolyth & Cobalt‘s Polarlicht (Time Released Sound, 6 April), which will arrive in both a regular and a limited deluxe edition; the deluxe edition comes in a film can and contains photographs of Arctic explorers. Meanwhile, the man behind Monolyth & Cobalt has himself founded a new label, Eilean Records; the label’s first release will be Twincities‘ Variations for the Celesta (4 April).
Twice Removed offers two entries for the beginning of April: Andrea Ricci‘s hollow-toned Blend and Zenjungle‘s more active and melancholic Leaving Stations (both 1 April). Casey J. Cooper combines ambience with modern composition on And I Will Rise (8 April). Benjamin Finger delves into blended genres on the diverse The Bet (Watery Starve, 1 June). Daniel Klag‘s Twin Labyrinths (Miscreant Recs, 22 April) is quiet and reflective. Fluttery has three releases for April: Astrowind reissues Somewhere the Music Had Been Played on 4 April, reflecting its title, while Row Boat‘s In Between and Diamond Gloss‘ No Mawkish (11 and 18 April) embrace both artists’ ambient sides over their post-rock sides.
Drone
Superlunarskin‘s From the Second Vespers (Assembly Field, 13 April) pairs drone with a consistent beat. Alex Cobb follows March release Marigold and Cable with Works for Cassette, recorded as Taiga Remains (Helen Scarsdale Agency, 29 April). And after collaborating with Thomas Ankersmit on his last PAN outing, Valerio Tricoli now competes with him by releasing Miseri Lars on 28 April ~ the same day as Ankersmit’s Figueroa Terrace. We believe the competition is a friendly one.
Electronic
Perennial favorites Plaid return on 19 May with Reachy Prints on Warp; will expectations be too high, or will fans be happy to have them back? Editions Mego keeps up the pace with LCC‘s d/evolution (26 May), which can be added to a string of releases from the first part of this preview. Dekorder unveils three more chapters of its Hybrid Vinyl Series on 28 April with engaging 12″ installments by Black to Comm (Providence), Excepter (The Stand) and Experimental Audio Research (All Things Being Equal). The Black to Comm release, a collision of dark ambience, drone and electronics, is the truest hybrid of the batch.
A twenty-minute DJ mix precedes Future Funk Squad‘s dancefloor-friendly Darker Days (14 April). Equally propulsive is Mark E‘s Product of Industry, a pure techno release on Spectral Sound (28 April). Deeper, weirder, and just as appealing is Stefan Jaworzyn‘s Principles of Inertia (Transmat, 28 April). And the kings of strange electronica, Sculpture, follow up their recent 7″ stunner with the full-length Membrane Pop (Software, 13 May), preceded by yet another mesmerizing video.
Brian Reitzell presents Auto Music on 3 June (Smalltown Supersound), but we were hoping for a hard copy of his amazing score to NBC’s Hannibal. Walls has a blast on Sound Houses (Ecstatic/Kompact, 5 May), lodging the recordings of Daphne Oram in rhythmic architectures. Petite Cochon is the latest percussive effort from Prostitutes (Spectrum Spools, 12 May). Daniel Ruane (formerly Blue Cube) returns with the bell-inflected Oneironautic EP on Don’t Fret (4 April). After finding success with being is the sum of appearing, Diamat turns its tracks over to a host of guests for Being Remixed (n5md, 1 April). Fluxion‘s Broadwalk Tales (Echocord, 7 April) is dark and dubby, while Joey Anderson‘s After Forever (Dekmantel, 7 April) is light and at times even ravey. Gun & Girl‘s self-titled debut offers a blend of techno, organ and other live instrumentation (1 April). And those interested in fast-paced IDM will be able to graze to their heart’s content on Reliq‘s Metatropics (Noble, 18 April).
Experimental
Cliff Dweller‘s The Dream In Captivity (Patient Sounds, 8 April) is an odd and beguiling mixture of industrial, dark ambient, accordion and alarm signals. Four long tracks tell a story, but the details are up to the listener. A few weeks later, the artist’s score to The Giant is released on the same label (23 April). Also on the unusual side is Lerin/Hystad‘s Mount Buzhou (Extemporaneous Recordings, 15 April), which blends field recordings, Asian chants and diverse instrumentation. More field recording can be found on Thomas Tilly‘s soundscape offering Script geometry (Aposiopese, 17 April), which manipulates source material in the service of a higher cause. Arne Deforce & Miko Vainio stretch from high-pitched tones to atonal string squalls on the appropriately-titled Hephaestus (Editions Mego, 26 May). Say My Name dives head-first into tape manipulation on the captivating cassette Malaise Forever (Foreign Domestic, 22 April), while Costanza Francavilla and Alex Infascelli offer a 17-minute improvisation inspired by the number 17 on Bushwick17 (ZerOKilled Music, 25 April).
Modern Composition
Flau is reissuing Danny Norbury‘s excellent Light in August, along with bonus EP In Dusk and a closing track from Bluebeard (14 April). And we are extremely excited about Sontag Shogun‘s upcoming Tale (Luau / Palaver Press / Ricco), which continues to stretch boundaries via the incorporation of drone, field recordings and post-rock.
Rock, Post-Rock, Folk and Jazz
Acoustic guitar is the attraction of Yadayn‘s vloed, although some light elements of drone are mixed in. cecilia::eyes presents a more post-rock oriented sound on Disappearance (dEPOT214, 5 May). Those looking for something harder are directed to instrumental rockers Kerretta, who make their long-awaited return this April with the hard-rocking His Streets of Honey, Her Mouth of Gold (Golden Antenna, 4 April). Wild Rumpus gets psychedelic on Musical Blaze-Up (Bitches Brew, 27 May), but adds occasional touches of surf pop. And while it does contain vocals, the new Orcas LP may be of interest to our readers, as it contains music from Rafael Anton Irisarri and Benoit Pioulard, along with guest appearances by members of Efterklang and Telekinesis. Yearling is released on on Morr Music on 4 April.
That’s it for now, but stay tuned to our News page for new additions! Happy listening!
Richard Allen
a closer listen 