The Sight Below - It All Falls Apart [2010, cd, ghostly international]

6 april 2010

lbl: Ghostly International

#: GI-102 / SMM XII

electronic

ambient, techno

320kbps

silicon [7.0]

1. Shimmer

2. Fervent

3. Through The Gaps In The Land

4. Burn Me Out From The Inside

5. It All Falls Apart

6. New Dawn Fades

7. Stagger

_
total time: 55:06




producer: Rafael Anton Irisarri
co-producer: Simon Scott

note: "*Digital edition includes bonus track 'Splénétique'* Rafael Anton Irisarri's best known project, The Sight Below, returns with a follow up to the 2008 debut, Glider. The album garnered praise across the board for its integration of rich ambient textures with a technoid sense of urgency, prompting many to hail Irissari as a successor to Wolfgang Voigt's Gas project. 'It All Falls Apart' underlines that such comparisons don't really tell the full story when it comes to The Sight Below's music. The two opening tracks, 'Shimmer' and 'Fervent' establish a beatless soundscape of immense depth and scope, demonstrating a kinship with shoegaze or dream-pop style guitar-based ambience. The likes of Kevin Shields and Robin Guthrie have probably had as much impact on Irissari's sound as any Wolfgang Voigt record. The first beats arrive during 'Through The Gaps In The Land', fading in through the nebulous mesh of electronic tones, blurry, abstract guitar and field-recorded sources. The sound is incredibly warm and punchy, and paradoxically it convulses with massive amounts of energy depite retaining the serene ambient feel. 'Burn Me Out From The Inside' rubs shoulders with The Field's brand of warm, symphonic dancefloor sounds, preserving a deeply rooted kick drum-generated sense of propulsion whilst spinning through swirling electronic basslines and clouds of organic ambient matter. Next, 'It All Falls Apart' might be said to echo the kind of horizon scorching drone architecture of Fennesz or Tim Hecker, expanding to vast proportions and casting off the 4/4 shackles for a moment. One of the album's biggest surprises, 'New Dawn Fades' is a Joy Division cover, aided by the vocals of Irissari's fellow Seattle artist Tiny Vipers. The Sub Pop singer-songwriter lends the record its only vocal presence, adding a further layer of seductive iciness to the album before 'Stagger' drags you off into a glorious thirteen-minute, cinematic dub finale. It All Falls Apart is an outstanding sophomore album - a record that's sure to heighten Rafael Anton Irissari's already consoderable reputation."

the suicides' anthem

[fixed / 12 april 2010, 4shared]

buy it here.

[official site]

Tycho - Coastal Brake [2009, vinyl, ghostly international]

8 december 2009
lbl: Ghostly International
#: GI-90
electronic
idm, downtempo, candy, ambient
~256kbps
mohs hubscale: topaz

A1.		Coastal Brake
A2.		Coastal Brake (Manual Remix)
B1.		Coastal Brake (Hatchback's Cosmic Caviar Dub)
B2.		Coastal Brake (Lusine Remix)

producer - Scott Hansen

note: "Tycho's Scott Hansen also works as a graphic designer, and it shows in this slick, attractive production. He fits in well at Ghostly, which betrays a workmanlike aesthetic when it comes to ambient and IDM music-- a fussy classicism, flawless to a fault. Last year, they released the Sight Below's Glider, a textbook illustration of Gas that was unflashy, rigorous, and endlessly playable. Tycho graphs out more recent motifs-- Balearic chill waves, bloopy glo-fi arpeggios, space-disco vapor trails-- with similarly clean lines. His pinging synths and flickering guitars mesh like clock gears, with no margin of error, but pitches and tempos fray and stream at the edges, easing the rigidity. Moving in a fluid series of hesitations and rushes, "Coastal Brake" offers few surprises, but continuously delivers little thrills like a time-released capsule." - Pitchfork.

a couple enjoys the sunset togheter

[fixed at 1 february 2010]



buy it here.

The Sight Below - Murmur EP [2009, vinyl, ghostly international]

27 october 2009
lbl: Ghostly International
#: GI-92
electronic
techno, dub, ambient
320kbps

A1.		Murmur
A2.		Wishing Me Asleep
MP3-4.		No Place For Us (Eluvium Remix)
MP3-5.		At First Touch (Simon Scott Remix)

Producer - Rafael Anton Irisarri

note: "The Sight Below comes close to recording a “real” dance track with “Murmur,” slipping a skipping syncopation and an honest-to-god bass line into a roiling cloud of distortion. “Wishing Me Asleep” incorporates bits of strings into the mix for a touch of cinematic melancholy."

4/4 texture-kicking


if you like it, support the artist and buy this music here.