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

Thisquietarmy: Hex Mountains
Denovali Records

The press release accompanying Eric Quach's latest Thisquietarmy outing makes listening to Hex Mountains seem like a rather daunting prospect, as attested to by the following excerpt: “… the creepy noise sorcery, the mental screams, and the weighty burden will also make you want to throw up. From one peak to the other, climbing Hex Mountains is one hell of a trek.” Truth be told, such words are a tad misleading, as Hex Mountains does not induce nausea and, furthermore, climbing its mountain proves to be as manageable a proposition as the treks demanded by other releases in the Montreal-based guitarist's canon. But don't get the wrong idea either: no one—thankfully—will mistake Quach's album for one by The Carpenters.

The album features four long tracks, all of them recorded live (the opening and closing ones in Ottawa, Ontario and the middle two in France) and subsequently brought back into the studio for finessing. Fans of the trademark Thisquietarmy sound—shuddering drones and loops birthed by electric guitar and effects—will find their appetites well-satisfied by the material, but Quach changes things up in subtle yet significant ways during the forty-four-minute set. While the opener “From Darkness,” for instance, begins with three minutes of ghostly smolder, it broadens out when drummer Scotty Rooney (Alaskan) and bassist Dorian Williamson (Northumbria/Adoran) add their slow-motion thunder to the guitarist's molten outpouring. Yep, it's heavy alright but not unpleasantly so, and chances are you'll be tempted to crank it up until the walls shake if not collapse altogether.

November 2013