Zelienople - Sleeper Coach

Slowcore has become an obsession of mine over the past couple of years. My interest in groups like Codeine and Low has become immense. I've collected all I can from many of the "popular" slowcore candidates and I'm still not satisfied. I've found a few great records, but I feel like there has to be variations out there I'm not noticing. Whenever I come upon a record like Duster's 'Stratosphere' this feeling is intensified. Zelienople don't strictly meet the requirements in my head that define the genre of slowcore, but it is obvious they've taken some of that genres tendencies. The backdrop of folk that resides in their music is the clearest example I can find to satisfy that theory. Much like Codeine they rely on slowly building their songs through texture and the subtle blend of guitar interplay. Codeine preferred to go loud and distorted, Zelienople is much more laid back and quiet. They have a distinct jammy quality that anchors their music into the realms of noise and post-rock. They are a very tough band to classify as they can be very quiet and completely aggressive at the same time. When I say aggressive I don't really mean heavy though. They achieve loudness in a unique way that sees them almost going completely out of sync. Their songs seem to float through these hazes of textural noises. I guess their tendencies in terms of dynamics is what wants me to label them as slowcore.

zelienople's 'sleeper coach'

'Sleeper Coach' embodies their earlier work. More song based and much more ethereal. Their music over time has gotten much more complex than the simple spaced out songs we find here. This doesn't prevent the record from succeeding or in any way effect it at all. The cool thing is to see the band progress and 'Sleeper Coach' is the perfect place to start. Not as out there as their later work, helps you get used to their work. Much like 'Spirit of Eden' allows the further understand of 'Laughing Stock'. Neither record is better than the other they just represent different moments and ideas of the band. Highly suggest this record and in general the band's music. They are truly a different type of group that exists in their own realm.

Zelienople - Sleeper Coach (2004)

Oren Ambarchi - Grapes From The Estate

oren ambarchi's 'grapes from the estate'

I'm going to see Pavement tomorrow evening and Guided by Voices on Monday. Not sure how I feel about Pavement, but I'm very excited to see GBV. Great band and I imagine their live show is much better than their recorded material. Expect a blog post concerning those bands at some point. The title of this blog is a little misleading. The post will be focused around two records. Oren Ambarchi is an artist I saw opening for Boris w/ Michio Kurihara. He played a set that in my mind was much louder than any of the recorded material I've acquired of his. His recorded material tends to be very subdued and beautifully sparse. His live material has very ominous and from my knowledge (the concert was nearly three years ago) extremely cavernous and huge. His recorded stuff sounds so condensed that it was cool to hear him be very sprawling live. "Grapes From The Estate" is my favorite Oren record and every track is a highlight. The trouble with ambient music is making it simple enough to be subtle, but complex enough to remain interesting. The four pieces on "Grapes From The Estate" encompass that idea completely.

fennesz and ryuichi sakamoto's 'cendre'

Fennesz and Ryuichi Sakamoto are both ambient musicians. Their collaboration "Cendre" is very different from Fennesz's work. The familiar glitchy ambience and solemn soundscapes are there, but Sakamoto seems to make the work very dark. The subtle addition of live piano and field recordings really adds a level of texture to the album that makes it great. Both of these records are excellent companions especially in the early hours of the morning. I find myself slowly drifting off to both Fennesz and Oren constantly in a way that is almost hypnotic. They both know the perfect amount of repetition to instill in a song while still allowing it to be relevant. Fennesz' pieces here are much shorter and less developed than Oren's, but they bleed a atmosphere devoid of Oren's sound. Ripples of sound encapsulating emotion is the only way to describe both of these records.

Oren Ambarchi - Grapes From The Estate (2004)

Fennesz (feat. Ryuichi Sakamato) - Cendre (2007)

Oren Ambarchi - Suspension

oren ambarchi's 'suspension'

Oren Ambarchi is a Australian musician who creates minimalist/ambient music by way of solo guitar. I saw him open for Boris and his performance was much more aggressive then his recorded material is. 'Suspension' is a very quiet and soothing record. The sounds present here are almost meditative. Ambarchi has worked with musicians like SunnO))) and Christian Fennesz and his music shows influences from artists like those. This is a great record and also a little more varying then most minimalist work.

Oren Ambarchi - Suspension (2001)

Hisato Higuchi - Dialogue

hisato higuchi's dialogue

people that are somewhat familiar with this blog may remember a post a year or two ago on the album 'Holy Letters' by L. L got me first interested in Japanese music and Hisato Higuchi's 'Dialogue' was one of the first records after 'Holy Letters' that I found myself really attracted to. unlike L's meandering improvisation on 'Holy Letters' Hisato crafts a contained album with 'Dialogue'. songs exist basically of seemingly random chord patterns with soft singing accompanying. this is definitely the type of album reserved for when you wake up or are about to fall asleep, the minimalism is entrancing. yet another great release from the musical giant that is Japan.


Hisato Higuchi - 'Dialogue' (2006)