dis-integration

Love it. An excellent reminder of exactly why I should put this on as soon as I get home this evening.

I've come to the conclusion that it's a work of (warped) genius. I just can't get on with Joy Fantastic though, the goofy voices irritate the hell out of me.

In it's structuring and sound I think of it as the yin to Flying Lotus' Los Angeles's yang.

Looking forward to watching this video later. Tummaa is one of my favourite albums this year so far, I imagine the London show is going to be amazing.

Anyone going to see them in London tonight? Massively psyched...

But an excellent reassessment of an excellent album - one of only two Kraftwerk albums I own actually, along with The Man Machine. I'll definitely be investigating more of them on the strength of the writing this week, nice one Chris.

I haven't heard this yet but was hoping for some kind of return to form. They certainly haven't been the band that made Mezzanine for quite some time.

Haven't listened to Part Chimp in ages... I Am Come was pretty immense though. APC, HEALTH and Tyondai Braxton are all vying for my best of the month. I really love Fluorescent Black a lot, it's improving with age.

So much, I think it's probably my favourite remix Hebden's ever done, tis gorgeous.
Bit of JAGgage...
http://closebracket-openbracket.blogspot.com/2009/09/newish-remixes.html

Thought CBP were pretty bloated - they had their moments but it all went that bit too far down the seventies prog route.

It was a great night though, Zun Zun Egui were fantastic as ever, and I found Team Brick's orchestral fuckery pretty engaging, bizarre but compelling. When Mogwai played 'Cody' I melted a bit.

It's grown on me since I got it, excellent release.

Nice review too.

I really get on with Love Is A Liability's more straightforward, dance-friendly energy, but for headphones late at night I've found Bravery to be at least as satisfying. What I love about it is how little concern he has for making his music straightforward and easy to digest - it feels like when he has a whim he just indulges it (like at the end of the title track where it sudden goes all 4/4 for a minute or so and then fades out). It's some of the most interesting electronic music turning up at the moment for exactly that reason.

I was quite surprised by how harsh Wire's review was - they essentially called him an American Burial copyist and accused his music of being 'bloodless'. I can understand the Burial connection even if I don't agree that he's copying him, but I can't imagine anyone listening to Bravery and thinking 'god, this music's bloodless and anaemic'. Odd.

Carry on.

Amazing, amazing tune but I think I prefer Wet Look, it's got a madly destructive synth line.

It's great that We Should Light A Fire has finally come out as well, I think it's my favourite thing Hyetal's done this far - closer to Basic Channel-esque subtlety than any of his other material. Wild Angels is a straight up quality release generally, Floating Points' material just keeps getting better and Mark Pritchard's '?' is haunting.

Have you listened to FaltyDL's Bravery EP yet? It's quite an interesting progression from Love Is A Liability - his beats are complex and verging on undanceable at times, but still keep a sense of vibrant dancefloor energy despite being quite meditative. The title track is beautiful.

I dunno if it falls under your remit, but this month I've been totally blown away by the Four Tet remix of Anti-Pop Consortium's 'Volcano'. It's taken his recent, more techno influenced direction and filled it with chiming Reich/Glass arpeggios and a wonky hip-hop stumble beat. I reckon it's my favourite remix he's ever done.

I like the fact that some bits of it, particularly on Island IS and Seeplymouth, sound a little like recent Do Make Say Think - looped, lovely and elliptical. It's nice that Justin Vernon uses his voice sparingly as well, as it really hammers home those moments when he does the whole Bon Iver harmony thing.

Admittedly, it tends to get madly busy there during the evenings, but it's an excellent place to sit outside on an autumn weekend late afternoon. The Corrie Tap on the other hand is dingy, and the times I've been in there has been too full to do anything but inhale the alcohol fumes from a lot of irritating people trying to see how much Exhibition they can get down.

That said, I've not been up there for about three years, so I guess it might be little better these days...

There's stuff on there most weeks now. Thekla's pretty fun as well for club stuff.

Thali cafe in Montpelier is lovely, I've not been to any of the others. Replay on Park Street was wonderful until it closed a few years ago - there's a deficit of decent independent music shops in Bristol these daysk, with the exception of Plastic Wax and, naturally, Rooted Records.

And yes, The Apple is the place to go for stupidly strong ciders.

I'm moving back to Bristol next week after a year and a bit's absence. Can't wait, it's my favourite city in the UK without a doubt.

Again, I concur. So much better than the debut, both in terms of style and substance.

Enjoying then?

When it was implied that they split up because of the Iraq War and that the might still get back together.

Still holding out for it though.

This has been by a comfortable margin the best - and probably most inspirational - thing I've ever read on DiS. It's fascinating to hear so much about a label that's often so quiet.

Nice one.

Works so well as a companion to the Plan B article and it's excellent to have some real insight into what has driven and still drives Constellation in what they do. Looking forward to tomorrrow's immensely.

Been revisiting all the stuff I used to listen to as a teenager - Cursive, Glassjaw, JEW, Promise Ring, Small Brown Bike, Rival Schools, Planes Mistaken For Stars (a bit more hardcore, but y'know). I'm amazed at how awesome it all is, I imagine my teenage years to have had far more terrible music than they actually did.

I never got into The Get Up Kids though, I wonder whether it's worth me bothering at this point or whether it's something I would have only really gotten into when I was younger...

I'm going to be outta London by this point, sad times.

I really enjoyed your article about Constellation in Plan B - they're one of my favourite and most admired labels, both in terms of the music they release and the ethos and politics behind the label. It's good to read a little more about the action they took to set it up in the first place.

I'm hugely looking forward to this autumn's release schedule, the new Do Make Say Think and Vic Chesnutt in particular, though they rarely release material that's not at the very least enjoyable and interesting.

For some reason it always gets done at festivals, they had a good go during Brothersport on the Friday night as well (along with Devo at ATP vs. Fans).

Nice review, it was truly an awesome weekend.

It's done nothing but grow on me since I got hold of it, it feels incredibly organic and natural by comparison to his other output. The title track in particular is beautiful.

I've never really listened to any of Phil Elverum's stuff beyond a few isolated tracks, but this has really piqued my interest. Would this be a good place to start or would some of his older material be better?

I'm on that as soon as I get home.

Good choice of stuff here as well - Tummaa is absolutely astounding. I only got it yesterday but listening to it on headphones in the dark before bed last night was a pretty intense (and occasionally chilling) experience. The title track in particular is just beautiful.

Have you heard the new October 12" on Immerse? His last few releases have been lovely minimalist techno but this one's gathered together a pair of his earlier dark, techy dubstep tunes and it's all kinds of ace.

But I really enjoyed this article. It was more insightful than the usual, beyond constructive criticism legacy waffle that usually accompanies reissues (especially those of Radiohead). And this is coming from a pretty massive fan.

Can't wait for it to arrive.

I'm writing a similar thing monthly for Muso's Guide:
http://musosguide.com/short-circuitry-july-2009/6676

Bravo, as usual. Nice to see more techno appearing here as well, there's some stuff here I shall need to check out.

That Sigha Hotflush podcast is deep, in the most profound sense of the word. Headhunter's just done a brilliant podcast for Dub War that's another compelling bit of crossover dubstep-techno, some of his new tunes are sounding incredible.

Pitchfork's hosting an 'Early years of Kompakt' mix by Michael Mayer that's got some of their really essential stuff from back when their signature sound hadn't been totally rinsed by so many people. I'm still looking forward to hearing that 10 Years comp though, sounds like there's still some good material on there, and I really like DJ Koze.

I'm looking forward to watching you guys play - never heard you before I read the interview with you on the Quietus today and it's piqued my interest!

Do you know what time you're due onstage so I can make sure I get there on time?

The album launch is tonight at Hoxton Square Bar & Grill. They're great live, can't wait.

I'll have to try and get to this, looks like it'll be a good one.

Looking forward to the album - the last time I saw them was in Bristol a year or so ago with Munch Munch, and they fried my circuits.

The vocals were a bit of a deal breaker for me, but as it's become more of a staple at FWD>> (which I'm at on a fairly regular basis) I've become sucked in by the percussive side of it. After buying a couple of Roska 12"s and the recent Geiom house tunes I've become increasingly inclined to DJ more of it - at the moment I've been mixing in the range between 130 and about 138.

The thing is that aside from the excellent dedicated funky producers (Lil Silva, Roska, Apple etc) the dubstep artists who are starting to make more funky infused stuff being something slightly different to the table, a sense of starkness and an appreciation of space, plus an inclination towards being instrumental which appeals to me.

'Cave Rave' is a great bit of dubstep, I feel it really captures the best the sound can offer around now. Ditto the new Pearson Sound: at the moment I'm conscious that the best music being made within the UK bass scene - and in dance music generally at the moment - is the stuff at the fringes between dubstep, garage and funky. People like Brackles, Shortstuff, Martin Kemp, Pearson Sound and Untold, plus DJs like Oneman and Braiden are pushing the sound in a fantastic direction, away from mid-range wobble nonsense and into more energetic, surreal and synth-led places.

It's nice to see Hyetal getting some coverage too, he's making some pretty incredible moves at the moment. 'We Should Start A Fire' is going to be released on Mary Ann Hobbs' new compilation and it's of similar excellence to Pixel...

Have you heard about the new label coming out of Rooted Records, Idle Hands? It's run by one of the other guys at Rooted (other than Peverelist) and the first release is gonna be an anonymous white label. There's some track samples available from it which sound suspiciously like a certain Rooted-based producer... Looks like it's going to be one to watch in the techy-dubstep world.

I need to get hold of the Silkie album but I'm going to get it on CD I think, I can't really afford the vinyl and as I've just put in pre-orders for the new Zomby and Mount Kimbie it's gonna have to be on a wait for a while.

I'm gonna get it on CD I think...

This month is shaping up well in the electronic releases department - all three Brackles relases, FaltyDL, Pangaea's Memories, the new Clark album... I'm really enjoying 2562's trip out of the oceans of grey and silver (admittedly not a bad thing) of his album and other releases, Third Wave in particular is positively technicolour when compared to his other stuff. Using more synths and subtly introducing more melody and progression is breathing new life into his productions, I think this is probably my favourite thing he's ever done.

I've yet to check out the Floating Points Mu 12" but he was great at FWD the other week so I will most definitely be investigating. Ditto the new Mt. Kimbie - it's promising to be pretty awesome, the bits I've heard sound even better than the first one.

I'm really looking forward to hearing this, Body Riddle is one of my favourite albums Warp have ever put out, and I'm a big fan of Empty the Bones... and Turning Dragon as well. You're right about the detail - he has a fixated level of attention to the tiniest nuances that borders on the obsessive, but it tends to work so well in his music's favour.

Good article though, it sums up my feelings about writing - I do it for the excitement and satisfaction that comes of knowing I've managed to articulate something as intangible as my enjoyment and appreciation of music. If that can excite someone else about it then so much the better, really.

The further the rest of the press moves down the capsule review, 100-words-or-less-that-mirror-the-press-release route, the more crucial it will be to have the places, ephemeral though they may be, to read some insightful and thoughtful music writing that actually sticks to its convictions. I'm sure there will always be that demand.

Thoughtful and thought-provoking in equal measure, and easily the best thing I've read so far in the music journalism week. It's certainly given me some food for thought, bravo.

Robert Wadlow.

'So Far Away/Gambetta', they've got it on pre-release sale in Sounds of the Universe. I'll have to check out that Emvee 12", I'm loving the new Geiom and Roska stuff.

He's really producing some seriously good stuff at the moment.