Sun 10 Jul – Oren Ambarchi, crys cole

It was fucking brilliant!

All reviews and articles originally published, with MP3 of the songs mentioned, at:

http://bubblegumcage3.com/

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Oval – Oh (Thrill Jockey) 12″
It’s been about a decade since we last heard from Markus “Oval” Popp. During said decade, glitch – the style of abstract digital electronica Oval basically invented during the mid ’90s – has had time to go in and out of fashion a couple of times. Popp, meanwhile, has been suffering the effects of his highly analytical approach to music making – total creative deadlock.

To clear his writer’s block, Popp has moved from a methodology focused on questioning…

All reviews and articles originally published, with MP3 of the songs mentioned, at:

http://bubblegumcage3.com/

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The Miracles Club

The Miracles Club is a new project helmed by Portland’s Honey Owens, who you may know as Valet or from her work with Nudge and Jackie-O Motherfucker. The concept behind this particular project seems to be a lo-fi take on the early house music of artists like Mr. Fingers.

This may be another example of the US avant rock underground desperately trying to explore every nook and cranny of ’80s music or it could represent a more intriguing trend towards noise-oriented artists…

All reviews and articles originally published, with MP3 of the songs mentioned, at:

http://bubblegumcage3.com/

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A Sunny Day in Glasgow – Nitetime Rainbows (Mis Ojos Discos) 12″

This clear vinyl EP from Philadelphia’s A Sunny Day in Glasgow is a pretty generous offering. The A-side features “Nitetime Rainbows” from the band’s excellent 2009 album Ashes Grammar plus three new songs. On the flip, we get three remixes of “Nitetime Rainbows”. All for a very reasonable price.

The remixes are fine but it’s the new songs that really make this 12″ worth having. These tunes do a reasonably good job of…

All reviews and articles originally published, with MP3 of the songs mentioned, at:

http://bubblegumcage3.com/

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Gang Starr – Hard to Earn (Chrysalis) 2LP

Gang Starr’s fourth album, Hard to Earn was released in 1993. While Daily Operation, the album that preceded it, is generally considered to be Guru and DJ Premier’s master-work, Hard to Earn is surely the duo’s most ambitious set.

Guru is not exactly what you might call a “whack emcee” but – as he basically admits on one of Hard to Earn’s lesser cuts – his appeal is “Mostly tha Voice”. That richly textured monotone delivery is…

All reviews and articles originally published, with MP3 of the songs mentioned, at:

http://bubblegumcage3.com/

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Top Ten Albums 2000-2009

Like the recent best of 2009 list, this top ten does not claim to be definitive. It’s not just that the whole thing is highly subjective, it’s mainly that this list has been compiled by someone with a really, really terrible memory. Doubtless, something utterly indispensable has been wantonly omitted.

Once again, the desire to spuriously identify broad, overarching trends has been resisted, for the most part. But one trend does assert itself rather forcefully: As many bloggers and crtitics have…

Originally published with hyperlinks, images and MP3s at http://bubblegumcage3.com/

Albums of the Year 2009
http://bubblegumcage3.com/2009/12/24/albums-of-the-year-2009/

A festive, holiday, Yuletide gift to you: The Acid Folk Remix Project Volume Two is complete and you can download it by clicking on this link. Full details further down in this post but first… the list.

This list is incomplete. How many recent albums by favourite artists remain unheard? How many obscure gems remain undiscovered? Who can keep up? This list is provisional. The definitive version may never exist.

Best albums of the noughties? Maybe. All in good time. That would take a hideous…

All reviews and articles originally published, with MP3s of the songs mentioned, at:

http://bubblegumcage3.com/

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Sylvain Chauveau – Nuage (Type) LP

Those of you who admire Max Richter’s blend of neo-classical composition, post-rock and electronica are strongly urged to investigate the work of Frenchman Sylvain Chauveau. At first glance, the two artists seem to have the exact same modus operandi. However, Chauveau’s music eschews the simple, melancholy loveliness of Richter’s compositions, in favour of a rather thornier aesthetic.

The Black Book of Capitalism, Chauveau’s first album, presented a startlingly lo-fi take on chamber music – with musty strings coming under…

Originally published, with reader comments and MP3s of the songs mentioned at:

http://bubblegumcage3.com/

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Post-Rocktoberfest 2009: The Delightfully Confusing World of Papa Sprain

Papa Sprain was perhaps the most mysterious of all the first-generation UK post-rock bands. Memorably, a poster on the I Love Music forum once voiced an opinion that the band was merely a figment of some Pitchfork’s writer’s imagination.

But Papa Sprain existed and some of the recorded evidence is scattered throughout this post. The band was based in London but – as far as one can tell – all the members originally came from Belfast. They…

All reviews originally published (with MP3s of the individual songs mentioned) at:

http://bubblegumcage3.com/

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Big L - Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous

And where – you might be forgiven for asking – is the hip-hop? Well, first of all, we try not to call it “hip-hop” too much around here. Hip-hop is an aerobics class you can take at some yuppie gym. What we’re talking about here is rhyming, emceeing… rapping. And few have rapped better than the legendary Big L.

Big L was arguably the most talented emcee in producer Diamond D’s perennially (commercially) underachieving Digging in the…