Articles
Spotlight 10
Ten Favourite Labels 2013

Albums
52 Commercial Road
Chantal Acda
David Åhlén
Daniel Bortz
Peter Broderick
Brass Mask
bvdub / bvdub & loscil
Colorlist
Dale Cooper Quartet
Cuushe
Jack Dangers
Deco
Deetron
DFRNT
Egbert
The Foreign Exchange
Nils Frahm
Bjarni Gunnarsson
Robert Haigh
Marihiko Hara & Polar M
John Heckle
Arve Henriksen
Joy Wellboy
Kaboom Karavan
KILN
Land of Kush
Jessy Lanza
Last Days
L.B. Dub Corp
Lights Dim with Gallery Six
Livity Sound
Moskitoo
MUfi.re
Oddisee
Om Unit
Ø [Phase]
Raudive
Matana Roberts
Sakamoto + Deupree
Secret Pyramid
Quentin Sirjacq
Sleeper
Sonicbrat
Special Request
Stratosphere & Serries
Thisquietarmy
Ricardo Tobar
Tom Trago

Compilations / Mixes
Foundland
In The Dark
Mathias Kaden

EPs / Cassettes / Singles
Anduin
Anile / Lm1 & Kharm
Cursa
Gerwin & Nuage ft. 2Shy
Hessien
Jon McMillion
Miaou

CD-Vinyl-DVD
Seaman and Tattered Sail

KILN: meadow:watt
Ghostly International

Talk about a low profile—KILN makes Thomas Pynchon look like the worst kind of media whore. But hopefully the group's publicity-shy reticence won't get in the way of listeners finding out about KILN's third full-length for Ghostly International. Truth be told, the new release doesn't sound all that much different than the earlier ones (2004's Sunbox and 2007's Dusker) and even the cover image plays like a variation on an earlier theme, but such things hardly matter when meadow:watt retains the instantly identifiable sound signature Kevin Hayes, Kirk Marrison, and Clark Rehberg III have been refining since the group's 1993 formation. Once again we're presented with exquisite soundsculpting, in this case nine settings, and don't call them ambient settings, by the way: there's far too much dub-wise rhythmic heft in these multi-coloured mirages for that label to meaningfully apply.

Headphones are truly necessary for the music's textural richness to be appreciated. In a given track, sounds sourced from guitars, piano, drums, keyboards, and field recordings weave into enveloping electronic panoramas of incredible detail and density. And it's worth noting that while KILN's music is marked by depth and sophistication, it's neither difficult nor inaccessible. Instead, the listener is able to easily warm up to the material—the transporting dreamscape “Moth and Moon” and jaunty serenade “Jux” two representative examples—and luxuriate in its electro-acoustic design, especially when it blossoms so organically.

An earthiness pervades some of the tracks, too, such as the languidly funky “Star.field” and “Willowbrux,” in a way that can't help but boost the music's accessibility. There's no soloing per se; instead, instrument fragments blend into an abundant whole that cumulatively hints at melodic patterns more than explicitly spells them out. In that production regard, KILN operates like dub scientists, even if the group's music isn't dub in any traditional sense of the word. A few heavy-hitters appear as well, among them “Kopperkosmo,” whose punchy groove is but one of the innumerable tactile sounds that catches one's ear during this ultra-scenic travelogue. Here and elsewhere, meadow:watt proves to be a ravishing and stimulating feast for the ears.

November 2013