Gabriel Saloman - Adhere

Dark, minimalist drones from the other half of Yellow Swans--is there anything more that needs to be said?  Maybe this: Gabriel Saloman is better than the rest.  Full album stream:

Jasper Tx - Black Sleep

Jasper Tx
Black Sleep
(07.2008, Miasmah)
Verdict = Brooding headphone candy of the highest quality

I think this is pretty much true of all the releases we discuss here on FG (AKA music in general), but for Jasper Tx’s Black Sleep let me recommend the use of headphones. I’m not talking about your stock iPod earbuds either; it is important that you have a good pair of heavy duty headphones that fit like enormous earmuffs or aviation tower communication equipment when listen to the latest from Mr. Dag Rosenqvist (the Swedish mastermind that is Jasper Tx). Black Sleep inhabits an aural arena characterized by its overwhelmingly transportative tones, multilayered textures and expansive, lulling structures. Jasper Tx has already proven himself the master of this arena, but Black Sleep is, simply put, Rosenqvist’s masterpiece. There is often a overly weighted divide among Jasper Tx contemporaries which finds artists either straying too far into droning experimentation or relying too heavily post rock instrumentals. On Black Sleep, Rosenqvist has achieved a perfect balance between the two by incorporating and overlapping both gorgeous instrumental melodics and hauntingly evasive atmospherics. The fact that Black Sleep’s six tracks are identified in parts rather than by various names is indicative of the cohesive nature of the album as a whole. Rosenqvist balances moods of brooding ambience with the entrance of quaintly uplifting or sorrowful guitars and shifting audio deterioration. Throughout the record, this combination of musical modes builds into a series of glorious peaks and treacherous valleys. The entrance and departure of various instruments and melodic patterns play out like engaging characters in Black Sleep’s narrative. It's simply one of those albums that demands your complete attention from start to finish and rewards you with an experience rarely accomplished by contemporary music; so grab some headphones, a copy of Black Sleep and find yourself a good, comfortable, secluded area and let Jasper Tx lull you into a deep, black slumber.

-Mr. Thistle

Jasper Tx on Myspace

Jacaszek - Treny

Jacaszek
Treny
(05.2008, Miasmah)
Verdict = A gorgeous downer

It is amazing how many incredibly young composers are stepping up to the plate and crushing us with absolutely amazing albums. Jacaszek (AKA Michael Jacaszek) being among the top tier of the elite up-and-coming movement of modern classical composers has created an array of famished classical pieces of music barbed with glitchy electronic embellishments. Jacaszek places almost as much emphasis on spotless production as he does on peerlessly gloomy composition. The impact of the music is so visceral and subtly intense it feels like a living breathing entity; like the breathless arrival to the cave of a beast in slumber. The album comes off as a kind of star eyed cross between Max Richter and Greg Haines, fitting snuggly into the Miasmah aesthetic. In the argument of beauty between minor an major keys I think I am still apt to side with the uplifting to the depressing, however, Treny isn’t anything if not completely gorgeous. It’s the kind of eerie, entrancing beauty that is so frighteningly enticing that you can’t resist wallowing. Jacaszek encourages the ghostly eeriness of his works by employing floating choral motifs that drift around like lost angels throughout the album. Is it ok if I mention the breathtaking nature of the album again? The music seems to literally invade all of your senses until even your breath aligns itself with the flow of the music. The whole affair is pretty somber, fortunately Jacaszek provided a more blissful, up-reaching closer ending the whole affair on a high note. Right along side Peter Broderick in the stakes for most beautiful classical things to be released this year. Grab a copy of Treny along with some $100+ headphones and you’ll be glad you did.

-Mr. Thistle