Articles
Rafael Anton Irisarri
Slow Six

Albums
Another Electronic Musician
Balmorhea
Celer
City of Satellites
Cylon
Deadbeat
Kyle Bobby Dunn
Eluvium
Ent
Ido Govrin
Danny Paul Grody
Chihei Hatakeyama
Wyndel Hunt
The Internal Tulips
Keepsakes
The Knife
Kshatriy
Lali Puna
Francisco López
Mask
Melodium
Monolake
Clara Moto
Myrmyr
Nos Phillipé
Ontayso
Outputmessage
Pleq
The Q4
Schuster
Shinkei + mise_en_scene
The Sight Below
Sphere Rex
subtractiveLAD
Bjørn Svin
Tamagawa
Ten and Tracer
Trills
Trouble Books
Yellow Swans

Compilations / Mixes
An Taobh Tuathail Vol. III
Does Your Cat Know My...
Emerging Organisms 3
Moment Sound Vol. 1

EPs
Brim Liski
Ceremony
Eric Chenaux
Abe Duque
Hieroglyphic Being
Rafael Anton Irisarri
Manaboo
Monolake
Mr Cooper & Dday One
Pleq & Seque
Nigel Samways
Santos and Woodward
Simon Scott
Soundpool
Stimming, Watt & Biel
Stray Ghost
Ten and Tracer
Stuchka Vkarmanye

Ent: Welcome Stranger
n5MD

Ent's Welcome Stranger was originally issued on the Japanese Preco imprint in February 2009, but n5MD clearly thought highly enough of it to give it a broader release platform a year later. Ent isn't a group but the solo project of Nagasaki resident Atsushi Horie who also fronts the Brit-Pop-influenced band Straightener in his Japan homeland. Even so, Horie, who sings and plays guitars and keyboards on the album, creates a convincing simulation of a full band sound, an impression bolstered by the addition of Takanori Ohita whose drumming adds considerable punch to the eight songs on which he appears. Three years in the making, Welcome Stranger presents seven originals and three remixes (by Kettel, Near The Parenthesis, and Helios) in a collection of ebullient, vocal-based dreampop that'll appeal to fans of The Postal Service and The Notwist.

“No Tone” begins the album on a slightly Beatles-esque note by coupling Sgt Pepper-ish mellotron flutes and splashes of glitch acoustic guitars, and then expanding on the song's arrangement by adding martial drumming, jubilant vocal harmonies, and even a stabbing electric guitar or two. “Sleeping Ghosts” showcases Ent's breezy shoegaze dimension, while a post-rock side comes to the fore during “Will” when electric guitars and drums (supplemented by electronics and atmospheric vocals) race one another towards some imaginary finish line. The harder-edged “Do Not Adjust Your Set” brings funk and rock into the Ent fold (and even some blistering guitar work at song's end), and acoustic guitars and glockenspiel extend the wistful character of “Farewell Dear Stranger.” In his radio-friendly “Sitcom” remix, Kettel boosts the poppy character of “Silver Moment” and adds some funky swing to it too. At disc's end, Near The Parenthesis smooths out the edges of “No Tone” with synthetics and polishes the song until it sparkles, and Helios deepens the emotional impact of “Farewell Dear Stranger” by upping the original's dramatic ante. Recommended for dreampop devotees everywhere.

March 2010