Nature Morte/Ronan Le Déroff - L'Arbre Carré / Le Voyage Des Ténébrants Marins (Midi À Ma Porte): Nature Morte is one of those ambient projects that hit the right spot for me. No occult nonsense, no rhythms, no sci-fi referencing. The project's name is appropriate to a great degree. The dead nature... or the still life genre. Both cold, inhuman, sterile and lost. If the music is in anyway post-apocalyptic in theme, it is not because of any human meddling - or at least it is not focusing on humanity at all. It's just that cold, lifeless breeze. ... Anyway, I don't think that NM often flies the coop. The project has a direct purpose, and I enjoy it quite a lot. Ambient that is majorly morose, while a s-l-i-g-h-t sense of beauty (nature's?) is hiding far below the droning synth waves. If you've heard any of the various release of the project's (aside from the Ô Paradis collaboration maybe), you're not gonna have your feathers ruffled. A similar affair to their usual output. Ronan Le Déroff is a new one for me, but I could easily see him being Nature Morte's (sole?) member. Not much to say hear, you've basically got a solid Nature Morte 7" on your hands. It's hard to even make a reference here. I guess early Cisfinitum would be my best comparison. But less melodic and less eventful - in a positive way.
Idea Fire Company - Days (Swill Radio/Plinkity Plonk): A little powerhouse, as far is the lineup is concerned. That's kinda the IFCO schtick though, right? Foust, Borecky, Lambkin, Kreftingall present. So, Kye/Penultimate heads go nuts! I sat on this 7" for a while, cos at $9, I'm always going to give pause a few times. Swill Radio had a January sale though, and it was time to finally grab a copy. I think that the sounds present - mostly reminding me of Karla Borecky's solo LP on Recital - are more entitled to a full-length presentation. Even at 33rpm, this 7" is very, very brief. A-side is almost strictly the sound of Karla's piano. One can barely hear Scott's contribution via synth at all. The flip is a little more enticing; field recordings at fireworks mingle with a similar phrase that occured on the first side. It's a little nuance, but it gives the title, "Last Days", a more meaningful place. A little more "harmony" pops up because of the contrast. In the end though, I can't reflect much on the piece - it's just so damn short.
Various - V-p V-f Is V-n (Winds Measure): One installment in a series of releases; there's also a double CD-r (also available as a free mp3), a C50, and soon a print edition. This 7", much like the cassette (maybe 50 artists?), is comprised of a slew of quick tracks; each around a minute in length. Contributors include Jeph Jerman, Ben Owen, Richard Garet, Tommy Birchett, Lawrence English... so I think you can take a guess at the stylistic range that is present here. Field recordings, mixer experiments, drones, loops, near-silence and shrill tones. It all flows very well in it's short stay. I was wary of buying this because it has 5 lock grooves - they all conclude each side. Mostly, when I play 7"s, I'm moving around the house and will come back to repeat the side a few times before doing a flip. Lock grooves made it seem so involved, but I just realized I needed to devote a small extra to this. Not much to complain about really. Truthfully, the locks are the only part of the 7" that are uninteresting for me. They're not sounds that I want to hear on repeat. The rest of the tracks, in their sometimes abrasive transition make the whole affair well worth it. The locks are obviously easy enough to skip too. All slick, white, letter-pressed and laser-cut like Middle Press always does.
