I’ve realized that I’m not really as up to date as I used to be regarding new music being released.
I do follow what a few specific labels or artists do (Raster Noton or Kvitnu for example) but since my son was born I don’t really have time to go to music stores (the Tower Records in Shibuya actually has a pretty good experimental section that led me to a few really good discoveries) and I don’t read a lot of music-related websites or magazines.
So, would anyone here have recommendations for music - or places to read about it - in the same vein as : Pan Sonic, Mika Vainio (), Emptyset, Alva Noto, Ben Frost, Plaster. etc.
I do listen to a lot of other things but I’m focusing on that type of noisy/minimal electronic music here otherwise that thread wouldn’t make much sense .
As far as reading goes I usually try to follow my favourite writers on The Wire magazine and Quietus. Sometimes I check new releases on Honest Jon’s / Boomkat just to see what their recommendations are. Other than that I try to follow small dedicated labels before individual artists. If I find a decent label that I know has surprised me with good material a couple of times, I try to keep an eye out for their recent releases, collaborations, visual work and so on… which often leads me to another label in a similar vein.
Since I add my collection of vinyl/cassettes, etc and manage a “wantlist” on discogs I find their “New releases” feature pretty useful. It has an algorithm that combines artists/labels/similar artists from both my collection and wantlist, and sometimes the release is added to discogs just before official release dates… which gives me a head start on limited editions
I feel like Roly Porter and Paul Jebanasam are certainly in this vein. These are some good sites for reading up on music, year end lists just came out so that’s always a good place to look.
Thanks for the recommendations, I’ll look into all that.
I also finally added a bandcamp “fan” account to my artist one so I’ve started putting things in my wishlist from there, it looks like it could actually be a good way to find some relevant music.
Franck Vigroux did an excellent album with Mika Vainio, and his solo stuff can sometime fit into the same general area (or completely not as he goes into full-improv guitar mode instead).
Some reviews here (Centaur is particularly full-tilt):
I’ll throw these guys out there as well - MY DISCO. Not electronic per se, but minimal, experimental, and noisy in the best sense.
Australian three piece who really change with each album. They were kind of a modern krautrock band, and although that genre still influences them a lot through minimalism, space, and repetition, their newest album is an incredibly unique turn. They were really influenced by Emptyset on this album, and I feel like it shows. Saw them live a few years ago and I was blown away - deafeningly loud and so serious about their performance.
also check:
goem (frans de waard, peter duimelinks and roel meelkop). their first releases matched perfectly into the vainio-raster crew) -> https://goem.bandcamp.com/
more beat oriented:
sleeparchive (first ep´s)
r.hawtin-plastikman (closer, consumed, concept lp´s)
thomas brinkmann (klick lp is a masterpiece imho)
), Emptyset, Alva Noto, Ben Frost, Plaster. etc.
.