Articles
2008 Ten Favourite Labels
Ten Questions Celer
Ten Questions Deadbeat

Albums
Anzio Green
Ariel Abshire
Osman Arabi
Arastoo & AEMAE
Asymmetrical Head
Benoît Pioulard
Bohren & der Club of Gore
Matt Borghi
Celer
Cubenx
Anders Dahl
Davis & Roux
Deadbeat
Feu Follet
Formication
Generic
Stefan Goldmann
Gultskra Artikler / Lanterns
Hauschka
Hexes & Ohs
Koen Holtkamp
I Am Robot And Proud
Illusion of Safety
Integral
Koen Park
Akira Kosemura
Koushik
Library Tapes
Lineland
Mamiffer
Melodium
Moon
Oppressed By The Line
Pillars and Tongues
Rumpistol
Kamran Sadeghi
Sans Serif
Signal Deluxe
Skogen
Saul Stokes
Matthew Sweet
Tapage
Thursday / Envy
Windy & Carl

Compilations / Mixes
An Taobh Tuathail II
Chaos Restored 2
DFPRMX
Kuniyuki
Message Subatomic World
Pero es olor en el cuarto...

EPs
Canyons!
Budhaditya Chattopadhyay
Cubenx
Dokuro
Fraction
Lee Holman
Ikonika
King Midas Sound
Michael Lambright
Library Tapes
Lilienweiss
MRK1
:papercutz
Spencer Parker
Poratz
Spartak + John Chantler
Andy Vaz

VA: An Taobh Tuathail Volume II
Psychonavigation

Filled as it with pieces by Susanna & The Magical Orchestra, Colleen, Murcof, L Pierre, Songs of Green Pheasant, and ten others, the second volume of An Taobh Tuathail (Irish for “The Other Side”) plays like a textura playlist brought to life. An Taobh Tuathail is actually the name of a radio show on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta/Anocht FM that's been broadcasting off-the-radar music from around the globe since May 1999. West Kerry native Cian Ó Cíobhain, who holds down the 11 pm-1 am slot on weeknights, compiled last year's inaugural volume and now does the honours again with this follow-up. In keeping with the show's late night broadcast time, the release focuses on material more inclined to induce contemplative surrender than hellacious raving.

The collection is worth acquiring for Susanna & The Magical Orchestra's sublime “Believer” and Colleen's stirring “Sun Against My Eyes” alone, with the former an ideal showcase for Susanna Wallumrød's inimitable vocalizing and the latter a marvelous encapsulation of Cécile Schott's artistry. The melancholic trails etched by the clarinets against her delicate acoustic guitar playing sound as affecting in this context as they do on Les Ondes Silencieuses. L. Pierre's pastoral, folk-tinged landscape “Weirs Way,” Songs of Green Pheasant's lilting folk chant “Fires PGR,” and Elisa Marzorati's piano outro “Foliage” are lovely too, plus a number of energized cuts leave strong impressions: Heftord's jubilant overhaul of Cane 141's “Disco Toys” is an infectiously swinging delight while Sarsparilla's (Damien Lynch) “Gigi Go Deas” offers a rambunctious sampling of Plaid-styled electronica. In what appears to be an affectionate homage to Steve Reich, Somadrone's “Our Ears Were Like Canyons” presents an uplifting romp of sparkling vibraphone and string patterns. Murcof's “Rios” (excerpted from Remembranza) naturally guides the album down a darker and more dramatic orchestral-electronic path but it's the exception to the rule on this generally placid set.

Admittedly, the compilation won't be essential if you already have much of it in your collection, and furthermore, though some previously unreleased tracks appear (Mad Theory's “Numbers,” Heftord's remix of Cane 141, and Ranger 3's “Sense of Direction”), there aren't enough to make that big of a difference. If, on the other hand, you own none of the material, the selections represent a more-than-solid, seventy-minute roundup of high-grade electronic artistry.

November 2008