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CANYONS OF STATIC ON FACEBOOK | FAREWELL SHADOWS OFFICIAL SITE

Canyons of Static, a shoegazing post-rock quintet formed in 2005, have just released their newest effort Farewell Shadows on Oxide Tones records – and it’s all that we could ever ask from the West Bend, WI folk. Lots of semi-uplifting melodies, gentle keyboard washes throughout, and a shimmering glaze of shoegazey guitar distortion. But don’t let the shimmering fool you – there are plenty of crescendos and catharses to be had in the band’s fourth full-length effort. Opener “Take Heart” (for which you can read a full review from Reviler here) will make any post-rock aficionado feel very much at home – but still intrigued. Nathan Gaffney’s pounding and precise drumming drives much of Canyons’ work, and the band’s synergistic energy is readily apparent in a live setting. Album closer “Drift” eventually screams and soars in a bout of tremolo, piercing melody, and Gaffney’s thunder, bringing one of the newest Midwestern post-rock releases to an end. Farewell Shadows may not be groundbreaking material, but it is very good. Look for Canyons of Static shows around the Midwest, they are not to be missed.

We’re still here! The new Nowlikephotographs production studio is almost done! But we still need your help. Please consider chipping in a little bit to keep epic instrumental radio alive – donate online to us via nowlikephotographs.chipin.com.

Take note:

• The first new episode will be online next Monday, February 23rd
• New episodes will be posted and archived at www.mixcloud.com/nowlikephotographs, and here at nowlikephotographs.com too.
• nowlikephotographs.com will be getting a much-anticipated face lift and redesign soon

And stay tuned for news of our return to terrestrial radio! (In more than one place.)

Best,

Brendan & NLP

I asked founders and former co-hosts Chris & Joe first, since nowlikephotographs was born directly of their combined desire to give instrumental music significant radio exposure, what has stayed with them in the years since moving on.

• Thank-You performed a peculiarly literal in-studio for NLP 5 years ago – actually setting up their drums in the on-air studio with DJs Chris & Joe.
• Our partnership with Wordless Music and The Southern Theater for Minneapolis performances of contemporary classical composer Nico Muhly and Icelandic producer and musician Valgeir Sigurðsson – the first Wordless Music performance outside of New York City in 2007 – and ambient giants Stars of the Lid in 2008.
• Interviewing Don Caballero is usually an interesting endeavor. Chris recalls inquiring about their songs’ wacky names, to which the band replied “Once you have a lot of kids, you’re gonna start naming the 163^rd one something pretty weird.”
• Our partnership with The Whole Music Club in Coffman Union for a live-DJ’d soundtrack for the classic silent film The Dragon Painter. Check out the old SUA events listing for it here.

I’ve spent the last three years continuing the work of Chris, Joe, and all our past volunteers, and growing our community. For me personally, reaching out and sponsoring shows, booking venues for up-and-coming instrumental bands, and helping make in-studio performances tick have all been a lot of work, but were totally & utterly worth it. I was floored when Jimmy LaValle, former Tristeza guitarist and artist behind the very influential project The Album Leaf, agreed to do a live in-studio performance for us in September of 2011. Watch & listen to their beautiful performance here in the Radio K archives.

Austin, TX post-rock quartet The Calm Blue Sea wowed us in September of 2009 with a track from their soundtrack to the Fritz Lang film “Siegfried”, and a blistering performance of post-rock classic “We Happy Few” – which you might recognize from this astronomy time-lapse video from the Very Large Telescope that went viral. Check out the in-studio audio and my interview with them here in the nowlikephotographs archives.

And in a flare of variety for us college radio kids, NPR Classical favorites in the world-class string quartet Brooklyn Rider performed in-studio for NLP before their appearances at the 2011 Minnesota State Fair and Stillwater Music Festival. The four musicians all perform in Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and played a gorgeous arrangement of Brazilian artist João Gilberto’s tune “Undiu” in the Radio K studios – check out the audio here.

For a show such as nowlikephotographs, since we’re so involved in the instrumental music community, leaving is like saying goodbye to a family. Chris played our namesake song upon parting (“Now Like Photographs” by The Six Parts Seven), Joe nearly cried when he left with God Is An Astronaut’s incredibly moving “Beyond the Dying Light”, and current hosts Mike and I probably won’t leave Radio K without shedding a few ourselves. Nowlikephotographs will live on – for its fans, artists, and epic instrumental music itself – but Radio K will always be our birthplace.

Thanks for a wonderful 7 years, and long live the K.

Brendan & NLP

20. itsnotyouitsme – Everybody’s Pain Is Magnificent
19. Julia Kent – Green and Grey
18. loscil – Coast/Range/Arc
17. Wizards Are Real – Wizards Are Real
16. Maybeshewill – I Was Here For a Moment, Then I Was Gone
15. sleepmakeswaves –  …and so we destroyed everything
14. Deaf Center – Owl Splinters
13. The Drift – Blue Hour
12. Esmerine – La Lechuza
11. The Field – Looping State of Mind
10. Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place
9. Beware of Safety – Leaves/Scars
8. Tim Hecker – Ravedeath 1972
7. This Will Destroy You – Tunnel Blanket
6. A Winged Victory For the Sullen – A Winged Victory for the Sullen
5. Battles – Gloss Drop
4. Russian Circles – Empros
3. Explosions in the Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
2. Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
1. Tycho – Dive

OFFICIAL SITE OF NILS FRAHM

Nils Frahm is a Berlin-based modern classical composer and pianist, who has collaborated with such other prominent neo-classical artists as Anne Müller and F.S. Blumm. His latest effort out on Erased Tapes, Felt is proving itself to be one of 2011′s neo-classical masterpieces. Centered around Frahm’s brilliantly keen piano textures and improvisational style – the recording of which is so intimate one can very clearly hear the piano’s various inner workings between notes – light augmentation of bells and electronics pepper the landscape. Album opener “Keep” sounds spirited and lively, but instills mixed and complex emotions – not unlike “Sprouts” by Esmerine from their 2011 release La Lechuza. ”Less” opens the expanse of sound wide open, with heavy emphasis on negative space, scarcity of notes, and the ever-present sounds of piano actions. “Snippet” paints one of the record’s more subdued and melodic forms, showing Frahm’s command of melodic pacing and gentle dynamics. But the true album highlight is closer “More”; coming in at nearly 9 minutes in length, across three separate movements, the piece runs an emotional gamut from spine-chilling and glacial, to majestic, to supremely delicate. Encapsulating in one unified piece the very compositional essences of Felt, “More” closes out Frahm’s most cohesive and hauntingly beautiful release to date.

KINDER SCOUT ON PRECO RECORDS

Named after an iconic, wind-swept moorland plateau of the Derbyshire peak district of England, Kinder Scout is a multidimensional trio drawing from the realms of modern classical composition, ambient, minimal electronics, and drone. Comprised of electronics musician Jason Corder of offthesky, ambient artist Ian Hawgood of Home Normal Records, and cellist Danny Norbury, the trio has come together to craft a sound that is at once fresh and ethereal, but also accessible. “The Writing Life” is composed in four parts, and as one would guess – the ethos and emotions of a “writing life” of quietude, contemplation, and gentle movement - are bountiful throughout the record. Opener “First Half” showcases Norbury’s cello specklings against a backdrop of glossy, shimmering ambience. The misleadingly titled 12-minute “Interlude” features gorgeous melodies from Norbury’s cello, accentuated by sparse piano and non-lyrical vocal splashes. “Second Half” delves into a little more experimental and avant-garde territory, but as any writer knows, the process of procuring meaning and movement from pen and paper is not without its twists and surprises. And while the record makes its final delicate statements with vocals and glistening electronics in “Epilogue,” it is obvious “The Writing Life” is meant to be heard in its entirety. There is movement heard from beginning to end, with the sentiments and emotions of delicacy, playful experimentation, and breathing room threading the four pieces together. “The Writing Life” is intelligent ambient, and Kinder Scout a project to watch very closely.

THE DRIFT ON TEMPORARY RESIDENCE LIMITED

The Drift are not your standard west-coast post-rock affair. With hints of jazz, artfully spacey rock, and more than a helping of experimentation, the now trio craft and weave intricate structures, patterns, and moods. “Blue Hour”, released on Temporary Residence Limited, is the band’s follow-up to the superb and expansive 2008 effort, “Memory Drawings”, and their first release since the tragic and untimely passing of trumpeter Jeff Jacobs in January of 2011. As such, subdued is the element of jazz experimentation – and in its place, stripped-down and organic melodies and grooves, punctuated by washes of noise and sheens of electric guitar. Opener “Dark Passage” immediately springs to life with a Rich Douthit drum rhythm laiden with grooving ghost notes, before an eerie guitar melody seeps into the painting. With its consolidated instrumentation, “Blue Hour” prominently features very tight interplay between Douthit’s rhythmic mastery and Trevor Montgomery’s punctual basslines. “The Skull Hand Smiles – May You Fare Well”, one of two 12+ minute tracks, drops the immediacy of the first several tracks and opts for a lengthy, meandering & contemplative buildup, driven by an ambulatory two-note bassline. “Continuum” lends an even more experimental mood to the second half of the record, culminating in a somberly haunting guitar melody, while album closer “Fountain” – the second 12+ minute track – wanders around in a sea of textures and layers. “Blue Hour” as a whole is less focused on reaching a specific culminating point, whether in each track or across the record as a complete work; rather, the record poses questions, and offers answers in the form of a drifting, shimmering patchwork.

OFFICIAL SITE OF QUENTIN SIRJACQ

Quentin Sirjacq is a solo pianist and composer hailing from France, and La Chambre Claire is his debut effort, pressed by Brocoli records in France in 2010, and presented to us via Japan’s Schole records this winter. To untrained ears, solo piano music can be difficult to differentiate and fully appreciate within the context of modern composition – but as a pianist, it’s easy to hear – Quentin Sirjacq understands beauty. At times understated with modest dynamics and sparsity of its elements, La Chambre Claire demonstrates Sirjacq’s technical skill as a minimalist composer, but also his keen ear for dynamics and flow. “Car Je Cherche La Vide” introduces his spirited, yet light, style in quick, arpeggiated strokes, yet remains far from committing the sin of Too Many Notes. The dulcet opening chords of “Et Le Noir” paint an almost filmographic scene, and a light touch of electronics eventually gives way to the record’s longest and most flourishing piece, “Et Le Nu”. “Des Etres Disparus”, another highlight and one of the record’s more somber pieces, fully utilizes minor-toned embellishments of the cello, sauntering along in a sweetly autumnal fashion. La Chambre Claire concludes with three six-minute tracks, with string accompaniment and Sirjacq’s echoing upper-register chords drawing “Obsession” to a close. Easily one of the year’s finest minimal modern classical efforts, La Chambre Claire is winter beauty with every passage.

OFFICIAL SITE OF THE FIELD

The Field’s 2011 release comes off Germany’s Kompakt label and is the third full length album from producer Axel Willner.  The latest release provides The Field with a wide blend of experimental sounds ranging from 4 on the floor techno to minimal ambient.  Looping State of Mind suggests more simplistic sounds, however the title track among others create a wall of sound and blissful confusion.  Bouncy winding melodies haunt “Looping State of Mind” and “Arpeggiated Love” like a revolutions of a dance record that you can’t stop playing.  Ghostly sweet samples flow beautifully through “Sweet Slow Baby” and “Burned Out” to bring the microhouse music down to a level of inventive and entrancing techno ambient works.  The gradual growing and receding sound wall displays itself on each track of Looping State of Mind with each sound unique from the next.