Djrum - Portrait With Firewood

One of the best albums I’ve heard in quite some time. The highs are very high; the lows are very low. Great shifts in the dynamism between the ravey drums and the acoustic piano orchestration.

I’ll be back on this journey many times in the future.

https://djrum.bandcamp.com/album/portrait-with-firewood

OMG I LOVED SEX SO MUCH WHOOO IT'S FINALLY OUT I LOVE IT

lol

acoustic piano orchestral stringy stuff is really quite bad

  On 8/18/2018 at 7:40 PM, species8472 said:

acoustic piano orchestral stringy stuff is really quite bad

Sometimes, yes. In this case, no.

bizzought

previews sounded too good to pass up.

yea this sounds sick

[ fine ]

^^^^

Yeah, sorry. It's not you, djrum, it's me.

  On 8/20/2018 at 1:17 PM, marcjday said:

 

Hugo Massien 'Advanced Aerial Threat' - esp Ursa Minor

 

This is so sick! Thank you!!

[ fine ]

the new shed ilian tape mix is full of unreleased goodies and may be of interest to this thread. 

it is very much of interest to this one thank you

Good tunes itt

This is great. I didn't realise djrum had stopped makingng breakcore tbh. Love the crispy hats and lush sub bass.

You can almost tell he was a breakcore producer by listening to this, the ghosts are in there.

  On 8/20/2018 at 1:17 PM, marcjday said:

I'm a HUGE djrum fan - and was very much looking forward to this release. ..   but who do I share this sadness with? Thanks WATMM for just existing. .. . for being people and some place for me to just say what I'm thinking.

 

This album is everything that was starting to become irritating in his music taken and extended - made more so. ..  the breath samples, the film speech samples, the endless strings and cellos, the hyper-produced feel, that bloody off-beat handclap with loads of echo. . . .  it all feels so lazy and mechanical now. .. like watching a movie director pull all the same old tricks to try and illicit certain responses. .. and it just feels tired and desperate. I'd bought a few things off Juno at the same time - and when the album finished musicbee started playing the JV&PALF single 'Wren'. . .. and it's kind of similar. .. but the freshness, the space, the direct modern joy. .. made me think 'oh djrum this is better .. .. highlight so far' - then I realised it was somebody else and the djrum album was over - it felt short, like it was just various versions of 2 or 3 tracks mixed and stuck together - same sounds, same structures, same oooh-ahhh samples. .. . .  

 

It's like words being written on paintings. .. it's ok a few times. . and some artists made it their own - basquiat, twombly, art&language (!) .. . . but for me it sticks out as being this lazy shortcut towards symbolism and meaning. . why try and make a beautiful painting when you can write the word beautiful ?.... . so everytime one of these bleedin samples appears on djrum tracks . .. talking about feelings, or being lost, or being otherworldly. . . it just bores the sh!t out of me. .. it immediately makes my eyes roll back in my head and ruins everything. . . it doesn't make me feel the feelings, it doesn't make me feel otherworldly. . . it makes me think 'ooh I wonder what film that's from'.. . and the track is ruined.

 

Argh - just going back and playing everything else by djrum. .. . . it's all so good. .. . . but then. .. Broken Glass Arch.. .  I buy virtually everything from R&S. ..  but that has to be the first thing I just bought one track from.. .. should have listened to the warning sirens then I suppose.

 

What else then? What's recent and similar but better?

 

JV&Palf 'Wren'

Hidden Element 'Voices EP'

Kutiman 'Don't Hold Onto The Clouds' - longer, more spacious and mellow.

Deadboy 'Psychic Hotline' (some)

Kuoyah 'Aurorae' - part 2 more than part 1

Hugo Massien 'Advanced Aerial Threat' - esp Ursa Minor

Cerebral-Cuts - all

NAAK 'Dimensions'

Asmar/Goinst 'Gallery EP'

Avatism 'Bad Summer'

 

.. . .. oh I think I could go on. .. . .  so much good music - so sad that this album is just a terrible letdown.

Gotta disagree with you about the samples and strings -- I loved the collage of sounds and voices put together here.  In my opinion, very tasteful and well done. That being said, great post above and good points made.  Especially digging some of your recommendations.  

[ fine ]

  On 8/21/2018 at 5:06 PM, marcjday said:

All good Extralife !

Wish everyone on the internet disagreed with each other in such a pleasant manner.

 

:)

 

I'll listen to the album more . .. . absolutely. . . and try not to fight the strings and samples... I really am a huge djrum fan.

 

OK OK OK - I may as well give the rap-rap-rapping on Dabrye tunes a go while I'm at it.. . . . . dang!

 

(Marc genuinely goes off to listen to Three/Three)

 

M x

One/Three is where it’s at :)

  On 8/21/2018 at 5:35 PM, Extralife said:

 

  On 8/21/2018 at 5:06 PM, marcjday said:

All good Extralife !

Wish everyone on the internet disagreed with each other in such a pleasant manner.

 

:)

 

I'll listen to the album more . .. . absolutely. . . and try not to fight the strings and samples... I really am a huge djrum fan.

 

OK OK OK - I may as well give the rap-rap-rapping on Dabrye tunes a go while I'm at it.. . . . . dang!

 

(Marc genuinely goes off to listen to Three/Three)

 

M x

One/Three is where it’s at :)

 

100% on that

I am really digging this Djrum album though. Never heard is stuff too much before. Love how it all progresses along and his drums are insane.

Echoing a lot of what was said earlier, this is damn near perfect mix of genres and balance of elements. Bit more lively and hard-hitting than Clubroot, lot less cheesy than Jon Hopkins, samples are more dynamic and nuanced than a lot of atmospheric d'n'b. The strings in particular - I'm very picky about them in any electronic / club music but they sound incredible on this.

I thought this album was good, though it does feel referential. I can just echo the praise everyone else gave for it, but his string arrangments are very nice.

  On 8/20/2018 at 1:17 PM, marcjday said:

Argh - just going back and playing everything else by djrum. .. . . it's all so good. .. . . but then. .. Broken Glass Arch.. .  I buy virtually everything from R&S. ..  but that has to be the first thing I just bought one track from.. .. should have listened to the warning sirens then I suppose.

Though I have to say, I've loved all of his Showreel tracks, that ended up being what I listened to most from Broken Glass Arch, though BGA is just as good if not better.  I may not have enough background knowledge to see how it's all not as exciting or new in general compared to how I feel about it, though.  Thanks for those recs! 

  On 8/20/2018 at 9:03 PM, marcjday said:

No probs Thaumaturge!

 

It's hard to lay into an album that you kinda like big chunks of but fail to be convinced it works on a creative hollistic level. ..  . djrum is obviously a crazy genius. .. . just this album fails for me. . .. . .  so I had to balance the needless negative moaning (which it plainly is) with some positive recommendations for other disappointed djrum fans.

 

M X

total side note, but I can not stop listening to this track!

yeah hugo massien is really turning into a producer to keep tracks on, after an introductory phase of cheesy, topless lad with sunglasses and girls with bindis on summer house tracks.