Articles
2009 Artists' Picks
Lymbyc Systym

Albums
Cory Allen
aus
The Bird Ensemble
Canaille
Catlin & Machinefabriek
Greg Davis
Loren Dent
Dirac
Drafted By Minotaurs
Flica
Sarah Goldfarb & JHK
Gown
John Hollenbeck
Viviane Houle
I/DEX
Akira Kosemura
Andrew McKenna Lee
Le Lendemain
LRAD
Lymbyc Systym
Melorman
Muskox
The Mercury Program
Nikasaya
Northerner
nörz
Noveller / Aidan Baker
Redshape
Marina Rosenfeld
Stripmall Architecture
Sturqen
Wes Willenbring
The Tony Wilson Sextet
Julia Wolfe
Peter Wright
Zelienople

Compilations / Mixes
Blackoperator
Glimpse Four:Twenty 03
Kod.eX
Portland Stories

EPs
Molnbär Av John
Tommi Bass & B.B.S.C.
Julian Beau
Colours-Volume 5
Dalot
Echologist
Simon James French
Geiom & Shortstuff
General Elektriks
Geskia
Ernest Gonzales
Gradient
Jacksonville
Joker
Ann Laplantine
Loko
Machinefabriek
Stefano Pilia
Damian Valles

Dalot: Flight Sessions EP
Coo Records

Flight Sessions offers a nice introduction to the work of Greek sound artist Maria Papadomanolaki who records under the name Dalot (and who signed recently to n5MD). There is a concept of sorts in play—the EP's six pieces are loosely oriented around the idea of a bird's-eye view of everyday moments—but the concept's largely supplemental to the listening experience. Papadomanolaki, who earned an MA in Sound Art while living in the UK and currently collaborates with free103point9 in New York as a publication co-editor, brings a sensitized ear for detail to material that would invite the label electro-acoustic but for the pop character that emerges in a couple of places. As a result, while “Rewind” registers as a setting perched midway between sound art piece and ambient meditation, the recording's most melodic track, a sunlit slice of electronic pop called “Eyeburn,” sweetens its drum machine beats and warm synthetics with glistening melodies. Similarly, a simple rhythm pattern lends “Above the Rooftops” an animated character that complements its title, in contrast to the EP's placid ambient settings, which are speckled with electric guitar shadings, electronic shimmer, and field recordings of the urban jungle (bird chirps, distant thunder, city noise). In short, Flight Sessions finds Papadomanolaki squeezing a stylistically diverse travelogue into a twenty-three-minute running time that bodes well for future outings.

January 2010