This week has seen the release of two albums which were quite possibly my most anticipated releases of the year.
The follow-up to one of the most enjoyable albums I have heard for some time, Myam James Part 1, the second outing has a lot to live up to.
For those unfamiliar with Kettel - he is a young, classically trained producer and musician with an already impressively large and consistent discography of electronica that incorporates elements of ambience, classical, acid, hip hop and IDM. He releases on the Netherlands-based Sending Orbs.
The mood here is altogether more solemn and mature, as reflected in the artwork (which, it has to be said is very impressive). That isn't to say that Reimer Eising has lost his playful nature, and this can be found again on tracks such as Begging For A Herring.
Of course, Kettel's fantastic melodies are one of the biggest draws of his music, and these are in abundance here, whether it be in the beautiful classical piano driven pieces (Shinjuku Inn) or emotive violin tracks (Pers Patrys) to the triumphant and utterly brilliant synth sounds of Verkens In Londen.
The intelligently programmed drums, when they appear, seem to have been taken up a notch, too. The bass kick seems deeper and fuller than on previous releases. He even experiments with jazzy percussion (Michael Space Airlines).
Myam James 2 has the potential, provided it stands the test of time, to be one one the most complete and outstanding pieces of work yet released by the wonder-kid.
The Field - Yesterday And Today
The second album is the follow up to The Field's hugely successful debut released on Germany's Kompakt - From Here We Go Sublime, a CD which received an extortoniate amount of praise from pretty much anyone and everyone including a coveted 9.0 on Pitchfork and full marks from Resident Advisor. That is to say, Yesterday And Today is a highly anticipated album.
Varying degrees of fuss have been made about the addition of Battles drummer John Stanier and other musicians to the outfit known as 'The Field' and whether or not Axel Willner's Gas-influenced ambient techno would suffer for it. Upon hearing Yesterday And Today, I can confirm that this is certainly not the case.
Willner (and band) have successfully advanced the trademark Field sound without changing it into something completely different. Still in check are the looped samples, the clipped snares and kick drums, the rising and falling voices and of course that feeling of euphoria and pleasure that was associated with the debut album. Now though, the tracks often morph on their lengthy journey. Leave It, for example starts off familiar enough, a clipped kick drum, chopped synth samples and a glockenspiel. But after about three minutes, what I can only assume is a live bass guitar, kicks in and the track takes on an altogether noisier, more condensed feel. The track continues to gradually morph for the remaining eight or so minutes before being reduced for the outro.
The title track too shows the subtle advancement of the sound, my immediate impressions were that it was a blend of Everyday from From Here We Go Sublime and Evening from the Sound Of Light EP after further listening it is apparent this is not the case. Although it contains elements of the aforementioned tracks, part-way through things take a decidely more Kraut rock-esque feel with delayed and layered electronic guitars. The two moods are switched between and moulded together before the track winds down towards the end, when the familiar kicks are joined by 'real drums' (!) courtesy of the Battles man (I assume).
It is things like this that separate the album from The Field's previous work and to me show true progression whilst not straying too far from what the fans inevitably want.
Early standout track at the moment has to be the first single The More That I Do, followed closely by the cover of The Korgi's Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime. At this point it is too early to tell whether any of these track will reach the soaring heights of the absolute classic A Paw In My Face.
