Biosphere — The Shield (1993)

Kontravoid — Silent Visions (2012)

Emptyset — Fragment (2013)

Amazing video for the track Fragment featured on the album Recur by the noise / electro band Emptyset. Here is the explanaion from their Vimeo page: "The video mirrors Recur's production approach, applying greater layers of detail and complexity into a signal chain, and continues from our previous moving image work exploring aspects of analogue video, broadcasting and electromagnetic induction. Fragment follows on from this line of research, integrating more physical processes by using reflective surfaces as a means of reshaping the transmitted image."

Automelodi — Schéma corporel (2012)

Automelodi is the minimal wave project of Xavier Paradis. The band originates from Montréal (Québec) but plays an electronic music very inspired by french 80's synth pop music (see Indochine or Taxi Girl). Here's an article about them for francophone readers of my blog.

Photo: Tears by Man Ray (1932)

Coil — Rosa Decidua (1998) [Featuring Rose McDowall]

Rose, I hear your voice near to me

I've put away the poisoned chalice, for now
And lie down amongst the flowerbeds

Whichever stars we walk among
We both seek out the darkest red
The wine was turned to blood again
Without this blood we'd both be dead

I've wound myself tight into the hedgerows
Let's see which way the winter wind blows

(You are my shadow)

Painting: Georgia O'Keefe — Abstraction White Rose (1927)

Pantha du Prince & The Bell Laboratory (2013)

If you are a reader of this blog, chances are you noticed I have an interest for percussive instruments like the hang drum, the gamelan or the marimba. So of course I was intrigued when I heard about this new album. Pantha du Prince is a german house/techno music producer. He has made a speciality in incorporating acoustic elements into his electronic music. The result is a music sounding much more organic than the usual electronic music. Here he teams with The Bell Laboratory, a norwegian collective of carillons and bell players.

Boards of Canada — Reach for the Dead (2013)

Chances are, if you follow music through blogs, you have already seen this video. Reach for the Dead, the new single from Boards of Canada was relased earlier this year. I wasn't a Boards of Canada fan before but I think this song is just perfect. Something about the haunting retro sound of the synths reminds me of 70's electronic bands like Tangerine Dream. This superb video is directed by photographer Neil Krug.

Fennesz — Vacuum (2008)

Fennesz
Vacuum
Album: Black Sea (2008)

ANBB [Blixa Bargeld + Alva Noto] — One (2010)

Blixa Bargeld, singer of industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten, bassist for many Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds albums and spoken word artist teams up with "glitch" musician Alva Noto. I don't know why I haven't found out about this album earlier! More information at the Raster Noton Label.


ANBB
One
Album: Mimikry (2010)

Zola Jesus — Vessel

Zola Jesus
Vessel
Album: Conatus (2011)

Kraftwerk live at the MoMA

A lot of the electronic music shows I attended were a deception. Seeing musicians playing with laptops like autistic childs can be boring. Of course, there are some exceptions. And Kraftwerk is one of those exceptions. Seeing them live is an impressive experience. The sound is excellent, the visuals are great and they seem to have fun performing.

The Museum of Modern Art has announced a series of shows by Kraftwerk: Over eight consecutive nights, MoMA presents a chronological exploration of the sonic and visual experiments of Kraftwerk with a live presentation of their complete repertoire in the Museum's Marron Atrium. Each evening consists of a live performance and 3-D visualization of one of Kraftwerk's studio albums—Autobahn(1974), Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (1978), Computer World (1981), Techno Pop (1986),The Mix (1991), and Tour de France (2003)—in the order of their release. Kraftwerk will follow each evening’s album performance with additional compositions from their catalog, all adapted specifically for this exhibition.

Coil — Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 1 (1999)

I remember in 2003, the group Coil was invited to the Mutek electronic music festival in Montreal. At the time I didn't know their albums very much and so I decided not to attend the concert. Unfortunately, it was the last occasion I had to see Coil. Jhonn Balance (signer) died in an accident the next year. The second member of the group, Peter Christopherson (composer and Balance's former lover) passed away in his sleep in 2010. For those who know Coil, this departure while he was asleep is almost like a self-fulfilled prophecy. Their music always had a dreamlike quality. It is the music of the ritual, the unconscious, the altered states.

After having produced darker albums with an "industrial" atmosphere, Coil have taken another direction in 1999 with Musick to Play in the Dark, making what they called "moon music". The music of Coil on this album is cold, dreamy with surrealist lyrics ("Remember, always eat your broccoli"). Singning is evacuated from this album and instead the lyrics are spoken in a monotone voice. The music is very eclectic, sometimes more calm, other times more menacing or aggressive, some tracks are more experimental, others sound like some sort of electronic children lullaby. In the last song of the album (titled The Dreamer is Still Asleep), Balance sings: "In ten years' time / Who'll care? Who'll even remember? / One dies like that, deep within it / Almost inside it / It's there for a reason".

Coil is gone. But they leave us with rich and powerful albums (more than twenty without counting singles, EPs and rarities). And I bet André Breton and the surrealists would have been fans.