Emeralds-Classic or Dud?

Wait, so is John Elliott still Jack Tripper or is he the Olsen twins now?

Discogs is fairly good for info on aliases / other projects:
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Emeralds+%282%29

(Click on Members names, then see under "Aliases" and "In Groups")

the lp that mark mcguire did with trouble books is really, really good imo

― Lamp, Thursday, 23 June 2011 23:54 (1 week ago)

Yeah it's a good'un. Its well worth checking out the rest of Trouble Books albums/EPs too they're ace.

I hate loving this band. On good days they fulfill the promise of all these Klaus Schulze records I bought and only listened to once. On bad days they remind me of jealously watching synth demo videos and NAMM reports. Usually I can get ten minutes in before I'm gazing longingly at something on eBay.

yeah that new dave smith/roger linn tempest looks dope

speaking of hauschildt, he just launched this site:http://www.gneissthings.com

is this where all the Spectrum Spools discussion goes too? the new Bee Mask 2xLP is OK through the first three sides but the fourth side is gobsmackingly incredible

http://www.gneissthings.com =

This Websense category is filtered: Potentially Damaging Content. Sites in this category may pose a security threat to network resources or private information, and are blocked by your organization.

Huh.

that's strange.. ghostery reports only fb connect and google analytics fwiw

Trouble Books & Mark McGuire LP has been growing on me a lot.

There's a track from Mark McGuire's new album here too: http://editionsmego.com/release/eMEGO+123V

and Amazing Births - Eclipsed By The Younger Moon from the new LP is one of my favourite McGuire tracks so far.

anyone get that LP of Outer Space demos yet?

is this where all the Spectrum Spools discussion goes too?

i feel like ive been a little bit burned on the bee mask lps - i should probably give them another listen but they just sort of blur outside of my consciousness like its more than just being 'boring' they p much just dont exist even when im playing them. or s.thing

imo the ss that ive liked the best is the forma record although i liked the fabric one too

the first Bee Mask LP is one of my very favorite releases of the year and probably my favorite Spectrum Spools release so far. I wasn't too keen on the second one initially, but after a few more listens I've warmed to it considerably (and of course the entire fourth side is still magnificent).

really excited for the Driphouse release in October, sounds like it's my type of stuff.

yeah im interested in it too altough i hope it doesnt just cannibalize his excellent nna tapes release

i feel like the double lp release had some good moments but needed to be cut down a lot i mean 'be shorter' is the worst sorta critique to level @ a double lp but yknow im kinda interested to know what you hear in it tbh

I must admit that I'm struggling to keep up with Spectrum Spools. I feel like as soon as I buy the current releases there are always two more on the horizon.

The Driphouse LP is a vinyl edition of this Root Strata tape.

That Outer Space Last Vacuum Demos Vol 1 LP on Wagon is still available here: http://bit.ly/nwfFS6. Ltd to 200 copies.

There's a new Mark McGuire LP on Editions Mego too: http://bit.ly/nM6lG7

Still need to pick up that Amazing Births LP.

Obviously no one is forcing me to buy this stuff...

That Outer Space Last Vacuum Demos Vol 1 LP on Wagon is still available here: http://bit.ly/nwfFS6. Ltd to 200 copies.

This is now available on Bent Crayon. I didn't even know this existed and I keep up with this shit like it's my job.

*Phew* (wipes brow)

Thanks for the heads up.

xxxpost

it's so hard to pin down why I like this stuff since I don't have a proper background in composition or anything; I'm sure most of it just boils down to listening to it in the right frame of mind/state of intoxication. that being said I can definitely say that I like how textural Bee Mask's music tends to be without devolving into a full-on noise record - I generally prefer stuff like Days of Mars and Outer Space's s/t LP and all the stuff derived from Tangerine Dream to stuff like Returnal or The Drift or etc., so maybe this stuff's just novel to me.

I don't know how to ask this, but maybe this will work -- will someone point me to some of these records that are more composed? I like long form compositions, but they have to grow and change noticeably and go somewhere, have a destination. I want to listen to records by people who compose better songs than I do. (This is a pretty wide range because I am not good, so I'm hardly limiting my options here)

This is one thing I think Emeralds proper does well, fwiw. I also do not like male or female indie vocals with my atmospheric longform compositions.

Ideas?

Similar question but where to start if you like all of the Emeralds records v v v much but feel overwhelmed by all these other things? This music sometimes takes a deep listening that, with my hectic, busy, high-roller life, I am not always able to achieve.

xpost

you might like Rene Hell if you aren't already familiar with his stuff - he's a little noisier than Emeralds, but all his best stuff is very tightly composed.

when I went psycho for Emeralds last year I eventually drifted into an intense appreciation for Leyland James Kirby's stuff; he's got an ear for really subtle yet moving composition which rivals Eno's early ambient works IMO, but his stuff's completely organic rather than Emeralds' Analog Synth Orgy 5000 style. check out Sadly The Future Is No Longer What It Was (released as Leyland Kirby) and Deleted Scenes, Forgotten Dreams and An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (released as The Caretaker - the latter is my favorite album of 2011 so far, although it's basically the opposite of an Emeralds album). I would literally kill thousands of children for a copy of Persistent Repetition of Phrases on vinyl.

I still ride for ES' Sateenkaarisuudelma; it's glacially slow but if you can get into it it's absolutely composition-porn.

is kraut-y disco-y stuff off the table? if not then Lindstrom's Where You Go I Go Too and Alex Moulton's Exodus to thread.

tbh I'm in the same boat you are, so I'll be eagerly checking out any other responses yielded by the thread too. I feel like somewhere out there, someone's making music which occupies the precise midpoint between Does It Look Like I'm Here and Philip Glass' operas; I just need to find it.

adam - all 3 of the members of Emeralds have approximately 4385413184315 side projects going, so I got my start picking through their individual output on Discogs. sadly I don't have any interest in cassettes so a lot of their stuff will forever be lost to me, but there's still a mountain of stuff to dig through. and then of course just start getting everything on Spectrum Spools; it's basically the synth dude from Emeralds having D+M cut glorious vinyl masters of all his favorite tape artists.

Sateenkaarisuudelma

OTM. incredible, incredible record

the mark mcguire solo stuff on editions mego is p emeralds-y and accessible i might start there and then if you arent sated try the stuff on their wagon imprint and then the spectrum spools releases. also again the mark mcguire + trouble books lp is fantastic imo

I like lots of krauty discoy stuff, I'm looking mostly for this
I still ride for ES' Sateenkaarisuudelma; it's glacially slow but if you can get into it it's absolutely composition-porn.

Thankyou! Will look into the rest. Have never heard Rene Hell!

also Motion Sickness of Time Travel should be right down yr alley; everything they've put out in 2011 has been exceedingly great

rene hell is a great pick. at the time I was struck but how unique porcelain opera sounded in the context of the scene that birthed it. I like kosmische space explorations as much as the next guy (probs a lot more than the next guy) but this is something else. riskier but more subtle. really enjoy the constantly morphing quality on that lp.

and if this isn't too obvious, keith fullerton whitman is easily one of my fave electronic musicians going these days. multiples is basically a tour through classic electronic compositional styles and is very, very strong.

his generator on root strata cassette is also amazing imo and sounds something like a more frantic and, uh, robotic terry riley circa persian surgery dervishes. composition is minimal on this one for conceptual reasons (as far as I understand, he's setting up machines here and letting em rip) but it is really something.

try the regaining composure / negating freedom and taking away tapes as well.

Any good podcasts for modern composition/electroacoustic stuff?

diminishing returns IMO

part of what was exciting about emeralds was that they seemed to chart a path out of the noize-nerd cul-de-sac.

this thread seems to be going in the opposite direction?

hmmm, is that a truth bomb or just another vahidism? I can't decide ;)

the fun part about getting into acts which are basically c-c-c-combo breakers for entire genres is going the opposite way and seeing all the weird shit you find! it's just a matter of recognizing your personal threshholds and adjusting your exploration accordingly.

i don't get what you're saying, jamescobo. how is rehashing 60s terry riley in 2011 a combo breaker?

chart a path out of the noize-nerd cul-de-sac
i didn't realize i was in this
what do you mean?

how is rehashing 60s terry riley in 2011 a combo breaker?

FAST ACTION DASH CANCEL

and for real, emeralds, grow up. you just had a big year, coming off "does it look like i'm here". why not try to compete with, say, ratatat instead of wasting your time trying to do "goodbye 20th century"

You seem to compare new things to old things in the form of criticism, a lot

Also you ruined the Moritz Von Oswald Trio record for me by comparing it to "lounge exotica" or something

many xposts

I meant Emeralds were the combo breaker (i.e. the ones who take all the signifiers of the tiresomely hermit-ish noize scene and turn them into something normal folks might actually want to listen to), not KFW. working backwards from DILLIH? has been really fun IMO even if most of the stuff I've been digging up can't compare.

oh yeah ok that makes sense

glad to hear i did that for you, adam, you're better off not listening to that trash

haha

"something normal folks might actually want to listen to"

that's what i'm saying, some workout music

bee mask? sounds like that "justin bieber slowed down 800%" bullshit

'does it look like im queer?'

that's a meme i don't know, friend

well theres always something knew to learn!

i lol'd @ 'lounge exotica' tho even if i dig the new record...

the new record is great, so was the old one though

there are no google results for 'does it look like im queer?'

^ seconding the Rene Hell / Leyland Kirby recommendations upthread

I don't see how emeralds are more appealing to normals than any of this other stuff? Lots of less abrasive stuff our there in this vein