Warp

Morrow vs. Hajduch

Morrow vs. Hajduch: Cex’s Evargreaz EP

Scott Morrow is ALARM’s music editor. Patrick Hajduch is a very important lawyer. Each week they debate the merits of a different album.

Cex: EvargreazCex: Evargreaz casette EP (Automation, 12/7/10)

Cex: “Ily”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Cex_Ily.mp3|titles=Cex: “Ily”]

Morrow: Rjyan Claybrook Kidwell has already spent more than a dozen years recording as Cex, his prolific electronic/IDM project.  Begun in his teenage years, the music has been intellectual yet inconsistent, jumping from guitar-topped glitch beats to nasally, half-sung vocals and raps.

Regardless of the vocals, which some view as a distraction, Kidwell has always made great music.  Whether it’s the purely electronic beginnings of 2000 album Role Model or the acoustically infused 2003 album Being Ridden, Cex has channeled the best of pioneering labels like Warp and Planet Mu.

Evargreaz is a four-track EP that was released in December.  (We’d note that it’s in advance of another full-length album, but he’s already since released another EP [Megamuse] that’s a preview of said full-length on Tigerbeat6 [Tiny Creature].)  It backs away from some of the dance elements of Bataille Royale, his 2009 album, instead offering more ambient IDM with overlapping time signatures and a solid blend of timbres.

100 Unheralded Albums from 2010

Among the thousands of under-appreciated or under-publicized albums that were released in 2010, hundreds became our favorites and were presented in ALARM and on AlarmPress.com. Of those, we pared down to 100 outstanding releases, leaving no genre unexplored in our list of this year’s overlooked gems.

Morrow vs. Hajduch

Morrow vs. Hajduch: PVT’s Church With No Magic

Scott Morrow is ALARM’s music editor. Patrick Hajduch is a very important lawyer. Each week they debate the merits of a different album.

PVT: Church With No Magic

PVT: Church With No Magic (Warp, 8/10/10)

PVT: “Light Up Bright Fires”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/PVT_Light_Up_Bright_Fires.mp3|titles=PVT: “Light Up Bright Fires”]

[Stream all of Church With No Magic on PVT’s website.]

Morrow: Formerly known as Pivot, Australia’s PVT was formed as an improvisational quintet in the late 1990s before transitioning to an electro-rock trio.  The group maintained a number of experimental, freeform elements, but it focused on synth grooves and a mixture of live and digital beats.

Its new album, Church With No Magic, is its most composed yet, seemingly dropping the improv parts while delivering some major pop melodies and vocal hooks.

Hajduch: Most of this album sounds huge and energetic, and surprisingly unique for how boldly the band wears its influences on its sleeve.  The echoed vocals of the title track, in particular, sound exactly like Suicide without coming off as mimicry.  (The best example of Suicide worship, by the way, is The Cars‘ “Shoo Be Doo,” which is terrifying and unexpected.)

Brian Eno teams with Jon Hopkins, Leo Abrahams for Warp debut

English ambient pioneer Brian Eno has partnered with fellow crossover artists Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams to release his next album, Small Craft on a Milk Sea, out November 2 on Warp Records. The album, available as CD and high-quality download, will also be available in a limited-edition or collectors’-edition box set, both designed by Eno.

We don’t know how Small Craft on a Milk Sea will sound yet, but Hopkins and Abrahams are excellent picks for collaboration.  Hopkins’ 2009 album Insides made our list of 50 unheralded albums from last year.

Weekly Music News Roundup

Hella returns as a duo; Converge posts a studio preview of a new song; Busdriver, Shining (Norway), Om, Russian Circles and Aphex Twin all have new albums on the way.

Ten Albums to Anticipate This Spring

As the weather stops being oppressive in the Northern Hemisphere, a number of potentially great albums from countless genres are on the way.  Here’s a list of ten that have us excited, including efforts from Isis, MF Doom, Coalesce, Prefuse 73, Mr. Lif, and more.

Weekly Music News Roundup

The long-rumored Faith No More reunion has been confirmed (!!!).  Vocal heavyweight Mike Patton keeps busy with a feature-film soundtrack, MF Doom drops half his name and a new album, Dengue Fever provides accompaniment to The Lost World, hip-hop duo Themselves returns, and much more.

BPM Counter: First Five of 2009

ALARM columnist Sean-Michael Yoder shares his first five electronic picks in 2009. The list includes Aether’s “melodic” Artifacts, London’s John Tejada with Fabric 44, the pop/dance beats of Hercules and Love Affair’s self-titled album, a Lollapalooza mix, and Jaga Jazzist leader Lars Horntveth’s 37-minute song, “Kaleidoscopic.”