Pillowdiver - Sleeping Pills
Pillowdiver - Sleeping Pills
[12k, 2009]
Both the album title and the berliner René Margraff’s alias are a very good characteristic of the essence and prescription of this music. Pillowdiver’s debut album is a full immersion into the cool and peace of the night. Even if it’s summer midday heat outside your window. This ambient works like a real sleeping pill: if you don’t fall asleep, you are sure to dive into the daydreaming. 12k label is driven away with this release from pure electronics, as on Sleeping Pills lo-fi sound of guitar prevails, juxtaposed with synthesizers and light samples, only slightly “electrified.” No less important are the lacunae in-between the chords. A pale background of ambient and a few brush strokes of the guitar - that’s what the composition is like on all nine tracks. Margraff is a master of sound ikebana, with the minimum number of elements and maximum expressivity. All tracks bear numerical names - as an addition to the minimalistic feel of the album and an opportunity to seek for additional meaning if you like.
Read & Listen:
12k on Myspace
Pillowdiver on 12k
Pillowdiver - Seven mp3
Pillowdiver - Two mp3
One of my favorite labels, Sincerely Yours (owned by The Tough Alliance) really makes my summer. With a single release. After n° 1 EP, the logical name for jj’s full-length debut is n° 2.
Wild music once was rare. Now, when Animal Collective have been nearly pronounced saints and are next to getting a star on the eponymous boulevard, it’s hard to impress, really. Yet, a side project of Gang Gang Dance is something to pay attention to per se. And I.U.D. is worth the attention. It’s Lizzi Bougatsos of GGD and Sadie Laska of Growing. The girls squeal and yell in a plausible hysteria, to monotonous industrial/tribal rhythm and sounds. Overall, it’s what you get when you combine plangent Growing and out-of-control drums of GGD. Can’t say it’s something really special and of a kind. But sooner or later, all Animal Collective and Gang Gang Dance albums sound too familiar, and that’s when you need something fresh to get your sanity back. That’s when you need I.U.D.
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