Blossom – Blue Balloons
Posted by tipkin
I wanted to start the New Year with something nice, pleasant and life asserting. I'm sure later on I will go back to gloom and doom, to darkness and bleakness, to decay and I'm getting carried away 
But it is the beginning of 2012, I have a baby on the way and it's been an incredibly mild winter so far here in Chicago, so I want to keep this momentum of overall goodness going as long as possible. Luckily I have a lot of friends who either create great music or distribute such. One of those good friends is *export label, and their new release Blossom - Blue Balloons is just what doctor ordered. It's a mild, dreamy, flowy album that glides effortlessly on skillful guitar samples and jazzy melodies. But it isn't a bunch of stretched-out shapeless watered down ambient pieces (if it was it wouldn't even make it to the pages of trippin' the rift). Blue Balloons is a very clean, focused album, and no, it doesn't contradict anything that I said above. Because you can keep dreaminess and flowiness with mellow guitar, crystal bells and light jazzy sax, but still keep everything from turning into boring mush with the sharp beat. And beat is not just playing this supplemental structuring role, it is definitely an important part of Blossom's style. Heck, there's even a track named "Nightbeat" (no guitar on that one, Beat is the King). It's a truly harmonious record - all parts of it are equally important and interdependent. Lately I found myself getting increasingly tired of albums that are something"-driven". "Oh, this is a wonderful piano-driven album," - yeah, maybe the piano is pretty great, but the non-driving part is usually just a generic trite afterthought, baggage that weighs the "driver" down and just is plain annoying. None of that garbage on Blue Balloons. It's so well put together that it feels like it's played on one magical instrument that just sounds like many different ones. And there sure are many different ones (if they are live or digital is hard to tell for my non-expert ear) - guitar isn't the only one providing strings, there's magnificent cello and bass that brings some of the very fitting darkness into the atmosphere (those balloons are blue after all); there's piano and flute and percussion galore. It's hard for me to determine if there is a story that the album tells. It's very abstract but in the way that the sky is abstract - is the sky trying to tell a story? No, and that's just it - it's not trying to tell anything, it's not trying period - it's just there, and it's endless, nuanced and beautiful. I definitely recommend multiple listens of Blue Balloons and on a good pair of speakers, it will evolve from "another jazzy downtempo record" into a delicate fragile masterpiece. Download the album for free (or purchase a limited edition CD with beautiful artwork) from *export label.
R.I.Y.L. Suba, Bonobo, tropical sunsets
personal favs: "Eternaldream", "Three Isles", "Blue Balloons"
tipkin's rating
Blossom - Blue Balloons by luBlossom
New release – Aqosto – Hibernation [TTRR010]
Posted by tipkin
Congratulations are in place, my dear readers! It's the 10th release by our very own, very independent and very net label Trippin' The Rift Records. But the true reason for celebration of course isn't just the number. Aqosto - Hibernation is a true Holiday gift from this talented musician. Hibernation is a work of art, 13 tracks that are 13 brush strokes that paint a very abstract yet very relatable picture, especially this time of year, when sleep is spreading way outside our bedrooms. When live processes come to a halt, when a warm isolated cocoon of a space seems like the best place to exist, when passion, love and the very ideas of any kind of activity, physical or intellectual, feel almost nonsensical, then hibernation comes to mind as a solution for everything. Aqosto researches such possibility in his album. Hibernation, the extreme slowing down of body and mind, putting the life on hold, communicating with the surrounding world through dreams. Extending hibernation to our entire lives. The dangers of such approach are the main focus of the album - those little beautiful nuances and details of the world (like love, for example) that will be deafened by our very own slowed down heartbeats if we let our souls to fall asleep. This conflict of beauty and rationalism, senses and reason is reflected through dark, sharp beats and tender, sensual melodies and rare and faint vocal samples. Aqosto always welcomes any kind of feedback for his releases, so please check out Hibernation and leave some!
You can download Aqosto - Hibernation on Bandcamp or Mininova (if you prefer torrents). You can also support the artist buy purchasing the release (or single tracks) on Juno Download.
New release – The Developing – From A Window [TTRR009]
Posted by tipkin
TTRR keeps exploring the chillout territory, presenting yet another release that will fill your mind with pleasant imagery and your ears with quality downtempo beats and tunes. The Developing is a solo project of Russian musician Andrey Sobolev and despite its name it produced a very well developed four track EP with a clear concept and immaculate execution. The classic chillout set-up (that brings to mind the likes of Nightmares On Wax) is a foundation for a variation of styles, genres and themes that The Developing mixes together in a tasty sweet cocktail with a kick of edgy IDM elements. As usual, no in-depth track-by-track analysis here, but I truly believe that most of the downtempo fans will enjoy this release. And it's only 13 minutes long and you can get it for free on Bandcamp or Mininova (if you prefer torrents). If you want to support the artist, feel free to drop some change via purchase on Bandcamp, or buy From A Window EP from Juno Downloads via link below.
Screenatorium – Flyentists
Posted by tipkin
I still find it really mind-boggling (shocking, actually) that Screenatorium a) isn't HUGE (even though it has a large and dedicated fan base in Russia for whatever reason) and b) is distributing all their music for free. Including this new gem of a release, eagerly awaited by yours truly among many many other fans of quality electronica. I knew I was going to like Flyentists before hearing a single note of it. Djeh & Co is a sure freakin' bet. Creating a good trip-hop record is a balancing act - limit yourself to minimal beat with some vocals thrown on top and you gonna end up with a forgettable snorefest, a disposable dime-a-dozen Bandcamp fodder. Overload your sound with every single bell and whistle your music-making software is capable of producing and you'll get an irritating un-listenable mess. Screenatorium can walk this fine line with the eyes closed after 10 shots of tequila. Flyentists is a very slow and quiet record that is also extremely intricate in its construction and... not boring. If it wasn't for the overall melancholic tone of the album, I would even call it "fun". But the tone is very gloomy, with the saddest trumpet you've ever heard (courtesy of Manu Aurousset), so I'm just going to replace "fun" with "entertaining". According to Picasso "good artists borrow, great artists steal", and there isn't much borrowed in Flyentists. Screenatorium develops the whole "stealing music" concept very cleverly throughout the entire record, and nothing is what it seems. There's nothing stolen in the opening "Gran Theft Audio" despite the title, but there is a suggestion to "keep a pretty close watch on these guys", and if you do so you could get tons of extra enjoyment out of Flyentists. And I'm not talking about "Raiders Of The Lost Art" (I might just borrow that title for my next trip-hop mixed CD), where music is crafted from samples from trip-hop dinosaurs of the past and lyrics are quilted from titles if their hits - it's a "red herring" in the Flyentists' complicated plot (and I found that particular track more amusing than actually good). I'm talking about tracks like "Hypnosapiens" where all the same trademark elements of trip-hop's founding fathers - from Archive's piano to Morcheeba's country guitar are masked so craftily with the sharp beat that we can't help but fall under the tracks hypnosis (womp-womp)... I'm probably reading way too much into this, but doesn't the very fact that a trip-hop record can produce such thought process make you want to listen to it, like, RIGHT NOW? It also plays with the concept of time a lot (you can here that clock ticking in more than two tracks), but I will spare my theories here. Nearly every track on the record is pure trip-hop gold, it's really hard for me to pick favorites (but the title track is undoubtedly one of them). Even the last track - the 29-minute long "Soundtrack Of My Day Vol. 2", a concept that has all the chances to go wrong - sort of music version of exquisite corpse, where multiple musicians (namely Kesakoo, Superpoze, Berry Weight, Asa Zen'Seï, Degiheugi, Mobster & Mr. Grandin) draw their sketches on the canvas of continuous beat, - ends up being an extremely captivating mini-adventure into sound (I really want to know who picked up the 20-minute mark, because that, my friends, is the work of genius and just that chunk alone makes the whole album worth listening). Get your copy here and don't forget to thank me later.
R.I.Y.L. Hugo Kant, Alif Tree, Georges Simenon novels
personal favs: "Flyentists", "Hypnosapiens", "Soundtrack Of My Day Vol. 2"
tipkin's rating
New release – Unshaped – Lifestreaming EP [TTRR008]
Posted by tipkin
TTRR is alive and well, thank you very much for asking! We are VERY happy to present this new release, because this is how the music on it is - happy. No, it isn't some upbeat-dance-techno-club kind of happy, it is a downtempo music and happiness in it comes from lightness, airiness (but not fluffiness - it never gets syrupy and sticky) - well, I guess that little birdie in the sky on the cover says it all. The record is very like that - like flying, like being able to look at familiar things from a very different perspective. Yes the problems are still there (and there are darker undertones in Lifestreaming, check out "Musicbox" for example), but they seem small and insignificant compared to the beauty and power of the world that surrounds us and the world that is hidden inside of us, which most definitely deserves a better, longer and more hopeful and optimistic look as well, no matter how dark and hopeless it may seem sometimes. Unshaped creates melodies that are actually shaped very well, and every each one progresses letting us discover new and different sides and details.
Get your copy of Unshaped - Lifestreaming EP on Bandcamp or Mininova (if you prefer torrents), as well as Juno Download (if you want to support the talent).
New release – PanDub Bear – Wake A Break Up [TTRR007]
Posted by tipkin
And now for something completely different! Yes, Trippin' The Rift Records is expanding. And because we don't like to waste any time, we expanded in three different directions with just one release! This is how: 1) New name on the roster - PanDub Bear (even though it may not be a new name to some of you if you follow this blog. Or good music.) 2) We've gone truly international now! PanDub Bear is a Ukrainian project, so now TTRR is not exclusively Russian anymore. And 3) Wake A Break Up is an entirely new direction for TTRR in terms of genres and styles. Why? I guess we needed a break (pun sort of intended) from the slow and dark journey we've been traveling, but, more importantly, we didn't want to pass up such excellent material. Yeah, it's not trip-hop, but it's definitely trippy. I personally could never get into dub, but PanDub Bear builds all kinds of intricate rhythmical and melodical contraptions on the dub foundation so for me the album is hell of a fun to listen to. Check it out, you can get it for free (unless you're feeling generous) on Bandcamp (as well as via torrent on Mininova), or, if you want to feel good about the money you're spending on music, you can buy Wake A Break Up on Juno Download (see below).
Nightlife Of Our Books – Life Is
Posted by tipkin
I'm not entirely sure why I even bother translating this review into English. Nightlife Of Our Books (Ночная Жизнь Наших Книг) is such a uniquely Russian project that hardly any non-Russian speaker would be able to even remotely enjoy their music. It's hardcore poetry, not even pretending to be singing or rap, combined with ambient strings and piano with gentle but firm drums and occasional electronic samples (a very strange direction that quite a few electronica bands in ex-USSR are taking and in which NOOB to my knowledge have advanced the most). It's just that I have some sort of sentimental connection with this group of young people, I sincerely believe in what they do and want their music to get as much exposure as possible. No, it is not trip-hop, but as long as it's being classified as such due to some purely formal criteria, I'll be happy to write about it, for it makes me feel like some sort of adventurous explorer. And I think that their music is full of desire to create for the sake of creating, but at the same time it has none of that self-centered don't-give-a-fuck attitude towards listeners that most of the experimental electronica tends to show. NOOB clearly understand just how does their music sound, they're gentle with it but, even compared to their debut release they're almost rid of that unnecessary shyness in choosing the means of getting their material to the listeners. Life Is - is a very fitting title for the collective's sophomore release. They felt the firm ground underneath their feet, they got some support from the listeners, and now they are breathing in deeply, straightening their wings and leaving the tight nest of teenage angst and naive maximalism which were breaking through here and there in the debut just like pubescent acne. There is much less self-digging and dark confined despair, but they aren't trying to look away from everyday problems, which are a part of this very life, that is. And while NOOB's "love songs" are still more like the ideas of love ("Jim's Little Cafe", "To Part") than its real life incarnations (and thank god for that), their social-oriented songs reflect the grown-up anger and readiness to fight those forces that seem so overpowering earlier. As far as technical side goes, the band is also on the right path. If their debut drew my attention mostly with the uniqueness of the concept, Life Is shows that NOOB is not "poetry with musical accompaniment", but an actual music collective able to create well-balanced compositions where poetry has the lead, sure, but not more than vocals in any decent band that has a lead singer, and can step back if a song requires so. Wonderful "To Decide" is a good example, the words here are just another instrument in creating the needed atmosphere, and strings and piano are pushing their way up until the amazingly unexpected electronic finale. Or "To Stay" - a great ambient track, which would probably sound just as good without any vocals. And that might be my wish for NOOB's upcoming works, - I think that they proved their ability to write deep intelligent poetry and that they have enough skills to create a concept album (Life Is undoubtedly is one), so instrumental tracks would maybe help to draw some attention to the just the music side of their work without hurting the integrity of their style.
Here, challenge yourself, download their album, listen to it and tell me what you think.
R.I.Y.L. rain
personal favs: "To Decide", "To Stay", "[They Are] Playing"
tipkin's rating
Djeh – Screenatorium/Asleep We Live/Asa Zen’ Seï (Lyon, France)
Posted by tipkin
Interesting (to me) fact - ever since I started writing this blog probably over 90% of the music I listen to is independent, cherished by a few but not ever seen on TV or heard on the radio or written about in magazines. The funny part is - I don't miss the "Big Music" at all. Sure, sometimes I wish I could join the discussion about the latest release by Those Guys or have some kind of opinion about This Lady's new music video. But I don't miss the quality of it, because my total immersion in the world of independent music opened up exactly that - an entire new world of music. That is just as good, just as exciting, but a helluva lot more free (in every definition of this word) than its spoiled commercial relative. In this world there are projects like Screenatorium, which you would find on many, many trip-hop fans' favorite lists, somewhere in-between Portishead and Bonobo, and yet Screenatorium is as independent as they come. Please welcome Djeh - the man behind the music.
tipkin - At first I wanted to introduce Screenatorium, but when I looked further into the project, I found out that I should really introduce Djeh, because in addition to Screenatorium you work on several acts, all of them more or less related to electronica/trip-hop: No Color, Asleep We Live, Asa Zen’Seï (which I'm not familiar with yet), ... Am I forgetting something? How are all these projects different and how do you find time to work on all of them?
Djeh - Let's start with the most important music project for me: Screenatorium.
I started to make music on my own with this project. Before that, I was playing bass guitar in a few nameless pop-rock bands in Lyon. And when I discovered trip-hop, I was rellay hopin' to make some records with MC and female vocals. So I left my band and started to work alone, searching for some people who'd agreed to work with me a little. Since then I've met so many people who taught me things about their way to make music and tried to understand what I was trying to do. You may know Degiheugi, he's like my sound daddy (laughs). Anyway, actually Screenatorium is not really a band, it's more like a collective project where musicians come and go. I'm still searching for my dream team, which I think I've found for the third upcoming album Flyentists. Future will tell...
No Color is some abstract hip-hop duo I made with a very talented French beatmaker Mobster. Man this guy is amazing, but he's working slower than I am, so that's why we've only released one EP at the time. We're actually working and talking about making some LP, but I really can't say when this will be ready. There's no purpose in No Color, we only like each other's work and try to leave some fingerprints together. I'm really enjoying working on this. And go listen to Mobster's work, he's some dope beatmaker, like I've rarely heard.
Asleep We Live is a pop project I wanted to do when I moved from Lyon to Montpellier, 'cause I though Screenatorium was gonna be on hold, with Nawelle Saïdi (singer) in Paris. I started to search for another voice, and I've met Astrid Van Peeterssen. We did Showmance EP in 3 months, 'cause I was really expecting some quick work. I wanted to do some catchy love songs, which I don't believe is possible with Screenatorium. I'm actually thinking about some Asleep We Live LP, but I think if we make it, there will only be one, cause I really started this with a side project idea. Actually, Astrid is working with us on Screenatorium and Asa Zen' Seï too.
Finally Asa Zen'Seï was my former dub band when I was a teenager. We were three at the time: Mote (saxophone player on Screenatorium's album Audimat), Bice and me. When I moved to Lyon they made some 5 track EP without me, and then nothing for 6 years. I've finally found Bice again, and we talked a lot about music and stuff, so we decided to make music again together. Mote is no longer playing with us due to different way of living. People change heh?
I think AZS is like Screenatorium, more of a musical project than a real band in fact. We're actually mixing our (second) first EP, with Astrid singing and some talented piano player. Release in 2011... let's pray! (laughs)
Ru Trip Community – Letters
Posted by tipkin
There aren't that many things that are awaited by me these days with such anticipation as new Ru Trip Community compilations. RTC has by now established a considerable status among trip-hop fans and musicians related to the genre, so they would have to try really hard to release a bad compilation, for at this point in their work the issue is not in getting enough submissions, it is in choosing the best from the many. Or, as with the current release, the most fitting the concept. Yes, Letters is a concept compilation, where the necessary criterion was the presence of vocals on the track. Great idea, isn't it? Letters, i.e. words are written to someone and addressed to someone. And music could be anything that is related to those words - photographs, memories, dreams... Did I like this compilation as much as the previous one? I can't say that i did. Is it not as good? It's fantastic. Like I said, RTC is dealing with the quality and very inspired material. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Let's talk about something less pleasant first, especially considering that there's just a tiny bit of it. Why did I, usually a sucker for vocals in trip-hop, suddenly craved instrumental tracks? It's not that vocals are too similar, au contraire they are represented in the most wide variety, genre-wise (from the traditional female to rap and spoken word) and language-wise (besides the obvious Russian and wildly diverse, as far as pronunciation and grammar goes, English there's also racy Ukrainian from Леся feat. Самата and The Limited Edition and even somewhat shy French, again from The Limited Edition). I think the issue here is that while previous compilation showed how diverse trip-hop can be, Letters bring a slightly different thought to mind, - whatever could be called "trip-hop" if it meets certain criteria, the main being, yes, the vocals. There are tracks on the album from the notorious post-rock territory, there are songs that didn't go far from that odd genre of "Russian alternative" and there are songs that bring to mind that nasty little word 'fusion'. The desire of the authors to reflect all the shades in the spectrum is understandable and will be surely appreciated by many listeners, but the more quality material there is to choose from, the more important becomes the need to leave some of it "on the cutting floor" in order to make the compilations more compact and cohesive.
But this is just nit-picking of an old fart, let's talk about the good, and even the great, of which there is luckily much much more. The record has a few simply exquisite tracks, true discoveries - one of the main reasons I always wait for the new compilations so eagerly. Escome feat. Flyfoxmusic - "I Was Made For You" - absolutely out-of-this-world trip-hop ballad that doesn't have anything unnecessary - enchanting voice, beautiful piano and structure-holding beat (plus various appropriate inserts that arent cluttering the song). Despite some upsetting mistakes in English this track finds the perfect balance in delicate minimalism that reminded me of Antenne resulting in a powerful sound that in its effect could be put next to such giants as "Nothing Compares 2 U". PlayGame - "Shiver" - an undoubted hit, with all the positive and negative aspects of the term, - ready for the radio, to listen again and again until it makes you sick (which won't happen soon). Special thanks to the keyboardist who "makes" the track filling it with with 70's psychedelic atmosphere. Plat-On - "Burn" - a luxurious track that delivers this combination of cold, ruthless electronica and the vocals that are sort of languishing in captivity but not really trying to break free either, - which I'm always trying to find but rarely do. Straight to Repeat. Another discovery - Леся feat. Самата and The Limited Edition - "Там за рiкою" - it's like a drink of cold spring water on hot summer day. And it's not just due to the exotic Ukrainian vocals (even though they certainly do add some racy cuteness to the song), but in general due to the fresh construction of the track, which came out so... three-dimensional? I just want to hold in in my hands and look at it from every angle. And then there is Ломаные Плоскости (Broken Planes) - "Играй" ("Play") - a perfect conclusion for the compilation, more like meaningful suspension points than a sprawling confident signature. I'm glad to see that new unique sub-genre - how should I call it - 'poetic trip-hop'? - becoming more popular.
GNs Compilation – Break Asymmetry
Posted by tipkin
This one is long overdue. Break Asymmetry - the compilation by a wonderful internet-resource Good Netlabels came out back in March, and had already been mentioned by pretty much every more or less important netlabel-related website. Still, this is too big of a release (and, most importantly, too good of a release) to not mention here. If I had to sum it up in just one word, this word would be "tasteful". But I don't have to limit myself, do I? Break Asymmetry is a very tasteful compilation of 17 instrumental tracks of predominantly nu-jazz/downtempo nature. So, here's little warning: if your idea of trip-hop is constricted to "dark slow pop-music with beats and vocals", this compilation may induce some sort of a WTF reaction. There are some pretty straightforward jazz tracks on it, where only certain elements, - like voice samples on JazzClams - "Morningbirds" or B.R.O. - "Story Of Sad Human", - indicate that subtle "nu" direction of their jazz style. The others present the delicious blend where jazz ingredients are sliced up in big juicy chunks and mixed well with electronica and then spread up on top of classy downtempo beats. Check out the absolutely delightful "Thread" by Quantifier or Thallus - "A4" for examples. Surprisingly, all of the tracks on the compilation are pretty short (most of them are under 5 minutes), which is great for a sampler - you get a great looking plate of appetizers, which represent the chefs well, but leave you hungry for the main dish. If not a bit too hungry. Maybe i was looking for a bit more experimentation, unpredictability, like the insane percussion on Maed - "Yfelful" or suddenly creepy rap on Niteffect's dark and strange "No Doubt". But I'm nitpicking. I'm getting pretty close to accusing a good compilation of being too good, so I better stop and direct you toward the free download page.
R.I.Y.L. Red Snapper, Funki Porcini, shiny expensive-looking things
personal favs: Quantifier - "Thread", Niteffect - "No Doubt", Maed - "Yfelful"
tipkin's rating
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