- Ravedeath, 1972 - Tim Hecker
This has been on my ipod since it was released, I've probably listened to it more than any other record this year.
- A Static Place - Stephan Mathieu
- Seefeel - Seefeel
I think this album is even better than anything they did in the 90s, mainly because of all the delicious fuzzy bass sounds. This album made me get back into fuzz pedals, which led me to spend most of 2011 learning how to build them myself.
- An Occupied Space - Robert Crouch
The concept behind this album is great. I've always thought music sounded best outside the club, across the street, in a different building all together.
- Presence - Yann Novak
Yann always manages to craft such delicate sounds, like watching an mri scan cut through a mass of sound, layer by layer, edge on.
- As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth - True Widow
The guitars on this album sound like thick syrup poured across an empty river bed, coagulating in the sun. Texas shoegaze at it's best.
- Periodic Orbits of a Dynamic System Related to a Knot - Mark Fell
It was hard to decide which Mark Fell record I liked the best this year, but this one wins.
Ryan Connor
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More and more often, the word "drone" is being used in CD liner notes, descriptions, reviews of works. Almost always associated with the term "ambient". This is because "ambient/drone" is an area heavily frequented, and, consequently, we have a flood of releases, very similar each other, or even duplicates.
Fortunately, there are good exceptions: the music of Ryan Connor, aka Sublamp, Los Angeles-based artist, is one of those.
In January 2011 he released "In Our Hiding Voice", published by hibernate (also a bonus 3" CD-R with the first copies).
It's a strange, unclassifiable, magnificent album: a bit ambient, a little noisy, partly drone, sweet and harsh at the same time, a hypnotic vortex of sounds that reaches its highest point in "Hiding Song".
One of the best albums of the past year, nothing further to add.
Fortunately, there are good exceptions: the music of Ryan Connor, aka Sublamp, Los Angeles-based artist, is one of those.
In January 2011 he released "In Our Hiding Voice", published by hibernate (also a bonus 3" CD-R with the first copies).
It's a strange, unclassifiable, magnificent album: a bit ambient, a little noisy, partly drone, sweet and harsh at the same time, a hypnotic vortex of sounds that reaches its highest point in "Hiding Song".
One of the best albums of the past year, nothing further to add.
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Discography:
Shiverland
Label: Serac
Cat. #: --
Format: File, Mp3 / FLAC / ALAC
Release date: 10/2007
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Cathedrals Of Gravity
Label: SEM Label
Cat. #: IOD 005
Format: File, Mp3 / FLAC / ALAC
Release date: 09/2008
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Breathletters
Label: Dragon's Eye Recordings
Cat. #: de5022
Format: CD-R
Release date: 07/2009
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Wickerships
Label: Ahora Eterno Recordings
Cat. #: ae003
Format: CD-R
Release date: 08/2010
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In Our Hiding Voice
Label: hibernate
Cat. #: hb23
Format: CD + 3" CD-R (bonus with the first 50 copies)
Release date: 01/2011
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Orphan Horns
Label: Self-released
Cat. #:
Format: CD-R
Release date: 11/2012
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Split
(w/ Giovanni Lami)
Label: Felt
Cat. #:Felt 6
Format: Cassette
Release date: 12/2012
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Lianas
Label: Eilean Rec.
Cat. #: 005
Format: CD
Release date: 07/2014
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Sister Maps
Label: Dragon's Eye Recordings
Cat. #: de6027
Format: File, Digital download
Release date: 03/2019
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Tracks appear on:
- VV.AA. - The Best Of NTNS Radio - JanFebMar 2008 (2008, Not The Normal Shit Radio, NNTS02) track: Animalface
- VV.AA. - The Best Of NTNS Radio - JulAugSep 2008 (2008, Not The Normal Shit Radio, NNTS04) track: Mineral Hall
- VV.AA. - Sing (2010, Duckbay, --) track: Owldrive (For Ann)
- VV.AA. - Untitled 10 (The Black Album) (2010, Untitled & After, UA10) track: andamurmur
- VV.AA. - Burning Palms (2011, Flaming Pines, FLP003) track: Twin Pools
- VV.AA. - Various Artists (Eilean 53) (2014, Eilean Rec., 013) track: Felt Hands
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Links:
Sublamp (website) (bandcamp) (myspace)
