The Week That Was #17: Happy To Be Here

So my from charts from last week are pretty incomplete, thanks to various technical catastrophes, but they still manage to do a decent job of encapsulating what's been tickling my ear drums recently. But before all the new stuff, I feel obliged to return to an older favorite...


I kind of squandered my chance to give Fields' Everything Last Winter the full-on review treatment, but I've come to the realization that criticism (even positive) is one of the least appealing aspects of this whole music blogging gig. All I can say is that I really like this album, and while it perhaps reaches for those major label-endorsed anthems, it's done in a way that I find consistently appealing. I managed to miss them no less than three times in the span of a few weeks back home, but hopefully they'll be back in the fall. Anyways, here's one of my favorite tracks, a pleasantly synthy track that gets really gorgeous in its last fourth. Head over to Chromewaves for some more multimedia goodness, and to i guess i'm floating for a trio of alternate takes.

MP3: Fields - Skulls and Flesh and More
Buy: Here


It's funny where you can pick up recommendations. A few weeks ago, I was perusing the New York Times' Arts Section, where they gave an unprecedented amount of room to electronic events of that particular week. One of the picks was Gui Boratto, and although his Kompakt labelmate the Field (not to be confused with the above group) has received more accolades, Gui recently released a fine album in Chromophobia. While I wouldn't go as far as the Times to call "Beautiful Life" a "revelation," it's still a good one.

MP3: Gui Boratto - Beautiful Life
Buy: Here


Thank arbitrary deity for new releases. I had a vague acquaintance to Trembling Blue Stars before their latest album, The Last Holy Writer, which is to say, I gave The Seven Autumn Flowers a distracted listen, and then lost it when my external hard drive crashed. Thankfully, I got reacquainted courtesy of Skatterbrain, and "Idyllwild" has quickly become one of my favorite tracks, period. But in the interest of fairness, here's a song that doesn't feature the sublime Beth Arzy as prominently (although she sings back-up), but rather Robert Wratten, who seems to be channelling Neil Halstead rather well.

MP3: Trembling Blue Stars - November Starlings
Buy: Here


And, all things being equal, here's Beth's other band, Aberdeen. I've come to the realization that I tend to cluster; if I really like a particular artist, I'll scour the the various resources on the right for additional projects, and it seems that these days, everyone has a side project or two. Again, the highlight of this group is Beth's voice, although I'm a bit mystified as to what people mean when they call something twee. Whatever it is, I like it.

MP3: Aberdeen - Sink Or Float
Buy: Here


I was really excited when Seefeel was described to me as a bridge between shoegaze and electronica, but I think I may have picked the wrong album. Succour, far from providing the aid its title implies, is a stark, somewhat harsh work, and pretty difficult to get into, at least without some effort. I haven't really spent enough time with it, but I am intrigued enough to delve deeper. Stay tuned...

MP3: Seefeel - When Face Was Face
Buy: Here