Alva Noto - Xerrox Vol.2

  http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=157869 said:

OK, brace yourselves. Returning to his much lauded Xerrox project, Alva Noto has out of the blue delivered one of the most emotionally arresting and quite simply jaw-dropping album's we've heard in recent times. Carsten Nicolai once again shuns the pinpoint precision for which he's become renowned, turning to a more abstract yet harmony-driven working methodology. As with the first Xerrox album, the starting point is a set of samples culled from external sources; this time around, snippets and recordings of SunnO))) dronesmith Stephen O'Malley and composer Michael Nyman feature, as does an excerpt from the 2004 Insen tour with Ryuichi Sakamoto. All these elements melt together beautifully under a unified banner of widescreen, washed-out digital ambiences, molten electronics and in the case of pieces like the outstanding 'Monophaser 1', an ambitiously symphonic scale. If the main thread of Alva Noto's music (as exemplified by last year's Unitxt) inhabits the domain of all things 'micro', the Xerrox albums surely represent a bold venture into the realm of 'macro', making grand yet utterly intimate gestures that would find a kindred spirit in the stately neo-classical drones of Fennesz's Black Sea or Deaf Center's 'Pale Ravine'. While floods of strings and sustained electrical signals compound the amorphous feel of the album, tracks like 'Teion Acat 1' draw attention to familiarly process-heavy, more rhythmically organised elements - the music in this instance embraces a fissure-ridden post-dub feel that recalls Pole's first three albums. Elsewhere, 'Sora' sounds like a mournful orchestra being pumped into some fatally broken digital mixer, while 'Meta Phaser' flirts with a sound that might best be accounted for by imagining a KTL album filtered through a bad telephone connection. While Noto's oeuvre is predominantly associated with pristine and prodigiously precise sound designs, Xerrox is governed by a more chaotic, emotional sensibility, and this second volume feels like an even greater step away from the comforting orderliness of prior successes, opening up exciting new avenues paved with noise, melody and a big pulsing heart. Incredible music coming to you with our highest possible recommendation - Essential Purchase.

Oooh my, I've just ordered this. I love Vol.1 so I can't wait for this one, the samples on Boomkat sound utterly breathtaking ! I'm not a fan of his usual micro-techno tracks, but these are completely out of this world, stunning stuff.

yep. ordered. the first one was real nice and this sounds even better.

yeah its a top album.

The samples sound more promising than the first volume. I am going to download the album soon.

i'm going to illegally obtain the shit out of this

noto, ryoji, coh and christopherson are all thats worthwhile in new electronic music

woah, that record is really good.

I just got this in the mail today and damn it's good. The melodies twinkling around the zaps and the crackles are just beautiful, it's like pop music for the 32nd century.

  mcbpete said:

I just got this in the mail today and damn it's good. The melodies twinkling around the zaps and the crackles are just beautiful, it's like pop music for the 32nd century.

the three xerrox monophaser tracks are simply out of this world. whereas before i had huge respect for Carsten Nicolai as a sonic sculptor and cold glitch technician, i'm now in awe of his ability to apply his aesthetic in such different ways. this material seems to hit the high notes that his earlier forays into melody and ambience didn't quite reach (though i do realise that much of the source material came from the Noto / Sakamoto collab etc)

top stuff, proper chills go through my body when its turned up loud. close your eyes and enjoy

anyone know where the hell i can order this in the states?

  Alcofribas said:

anyone know where the hell i can order this in the states?

think you can buy MP3/FLAC from boomkat.com (UK site) but not sure about physical releases. maybe find out who distribute R-N in North America?

whoa... the Alva Noto stuff i've heard so far was pretty shite imo (unitxt, transform), but this is very good!

  plangplang said:

but this is very good!

  plangplang said:

whoa... the Alva Noto stuff i've heard so far was pretty shite imo (unitxt, transform), but this is very good!

Yeah his Xerrox releases are the only things by him that I've been interested in. The rest is a little too clicky.

Alva Noto with Ryuichi Sakamoto/Ensemble Modern - utp_ is also very good. Having a hard time not wearing these two albums out.

  CATS said:

noto, ryoji, coh and christopherson are all thats worthwhile in new electronic music

so 3 primarily minimalist tone electronic musician composers and the only remaining member of Coil?

that's a shame that you've limited your scope of good electronic music so much. I could give you some recommendations if you are open to them. I think i have a pretty good idea what type of stuff you like given our conversations about coil

to Mcbpete: what is the last beat oriented release Noto did? I remember hearing something last year that was really amazing but i forgot what the title was. It was very like raw data harsh noisey sounding, not his typical clicks and cuts minimalist beats

  Awepittance said:

what is the last beat oriented release Noto did? I remember hearing something last year that was really amazing but i forgot what the title was. It was very like raw data harsh noisey sounding, not his typical clicks and cuts minimalist beats

last was Unitxt

http://www.discogs.com/Alva-Noto-Unitxt/release/1334140

  barbara planar said:

Alva Noto with Ryuichi Sakamoto/Ensemble Modern - utp_ is also very good. Having a hard time not wearing these two albums out.

this brillant cd/dvd is on heavy rotation @khov HQ. fantastic mix of acoustic & electronic drones.

its weird because i'm huge fan of Alva Noto "quiet" tracks (Insen, Utp, Xerrox) but not crazy about his heavy ones with beats & cuts. like this live track :

  Alcofribas said:

anyone know where the hell i can order this in the states?

http://www.forcedexposure.com/bin/search.p...archfield=title

jou have you guys seen john carpenter's christine? xerrox monophaser 1 reminds me of that film. it's good!

I don't know why I haven't gotten this yet, I really need to.

  Tauhid said:

  Alcofribas said:

anyone know where the hell i can order this in the states?

 

http://www.forcedexposure.com/bin/search.p...archfield=title

it seems that raster noton releases come out in the us several weeks after they do in teh europe. an american watmmers ever ordered from boomkat or a similar overseas service? what's the shipping usually like? (cost, time)

i'm fucking dying to get the new snd record on rn, but it's not out in the us until next month :(

With current exchange rates, buying direct from Europe in the US is often about the same or even cheaper. Raster-Noton's store offers free worldwide shipping, so you can get any release for about $21 USD, which is about the same or less than a US distro price with shipping. Everything I've bought from Boomkat or Norman Records has come no later than something shipped Media Mail domestically would have, and their prices usually work out great.

  k h o v said:

  barbara planar said:

Alva Noto with Ryuichi Sakamoto/Ensemble Modern - utp_ is also very good. Having a hard time not wearing these two albums out.

 

this brillant cd/dvd is on heavy rotation @khov HQ. fantastic mix of acoustic & electronic drones.

its weird because i'm huge fan of Alva Noto "quiet" tracks (Insen, Utp, Xerrox) but not crazy about his heavy ones with beats & cuts. like this live track :

http://www.raster-noton.net/media/AlvaNoto_CTM09.mov

has anyone here tried making sounds out of raw data files? thats what this sounds like to me, i wonder why no one else makes beats out of this type of shit it sounds really cool

  telikan said:

With current exchange rates, buying direct from Europe in the US is often about the same or even cheaper. Raster-Noton's store offers free worldwide shipping, so you can get any release for about $21 USD, which is about the same or less than a US distro price with shipping. Everything I've bought from Boomkat or Norman Records has come no later than something shipped Media Mail domestically would have, and their prices usually work out great.

thanks, man. that's really helpful.

*cums on you*