The Internal Tulips – Mislead Into a Field by a Deformed Deer 8.3

                Brad Laner (of countless side projects) and Alex Graham (from Lexaunculpt, no idea why he’s been hiding) came together to make this delicate project. How does it play? Well, think of it as fragile pop sketches with Electro-Acoustic influences. The pop influences help keep the experimentation warm and give the music soul.

                Coming in at exactly 39 minutes, each piece nicely melts into the other. A unifying theme brings all these quiet pieces together. Brad shows off a shockingly sweet voice, anchoring some of the more experimental impulses of Alex. Alex isn’t a stranger to affecting arrangements, as he did work on Lexaunculpt for many years before falling off the face of the Earth.

                Planet Mu does a lot more accessible music now. Having them offer up an album as inventive as this, with songs like “Mr. Baby” is a real treat. On that song you’re treated to Alex’s love of string arrangements, along with piano and guitar. A fractured beat keeps it all together. Using an unconventional structure allows them to show off a bit more emotion than either is accustomed to. 

                Interesting, they end the album with the only fully produced song, “We Breathe” to perhaps offer a taste of what they might explore on their next album. It feels fully formed, but still has enough quirkiness to be considered a true pop song.

                Sadly, this received very little attention. Had this come out a few years earlier, I think people might have been more receptive to it. But at this point, this kind of pop-structure experimentation, involving glitches, skipping, and so on have fallen out of fashion. That is a pity since this is such a strong release.

Luke Vibert – We Hear You 6.7

                Luke Vibert has created an immerse discography, the kind of thing which can overwhelm you. Here’s his some of his more recent material, as he’s started to cool down the pace of releases over the past few years. Though it is enjoyable, a few times it sounds like he’s stuck in a rut of some sort. Sure, all the humor you’ve grown to expect from him is in abundance, but it sounds more like a project on Auto-Pilot, failing to chart any new course.

                Planet Mu brought this out. Maybe they listened to the first-half of the album. That part sounds much more interesting that what happens in the latter part. “Belief File” has a giant bass alongside general happy vibes. It is a good song, and goes nicely with “We Hear You”. After those two, the other winner might be “Batting for England” which uses the samples to greatest effect.

                Most of the album resides in enjoyable acid techno territory. He can write most of these songs in his sleep. Sure, he’s talented, but only on those few songs does it appear as if he tries to aim for something besides well-done, rote techno. Hopefully this is just a slight fluke in an otherwise pristine record. Either that or he’s growing old.

True New Zealand Hero: BATalsdr on YouTube

Occasionally someone comes along and provides a service, a great service which you don’t see every day. YouTube isn’t known for those sorts of people, but sometimes there are a few gems in the rough of various online personalities. Sometimes it is their bubbly personality, but often it is someone who instead decides to be completely anonymous and let action speaks louder than words.

BATalsdr from New Zealand is one such person. The fact that this person has exquisite taste in music on a site known for the opposite is a miracle in itself. How this person has such a vast amount of music is a mystery to me, as is the fact that it is such high quality. We’re talking not only about the obvious bests of IDM but even harder to find stuff from Raster Noton, Planet Mu, and nearly every alias Aphex Twin ever had (of course it might be possible to have each one, but there’s so much they’ve posted).

Each song has an orange background, perhaps as a way of easily identifying it as their channel. They are the most subscribed used out of all of New Zealand, with over 7.5 million views as of this article. It’s simply amazing; I wish I knew more about this person. But I guess I’ll have to be content with the fact that this is a person who single-handedly makes the internet a better place.

I’m not the only one, read the comments posted on his channel. From outflows of love, to shaking of hands, to even marriage proposals, this is epic stuff. And they don’t comment on anything, they just stay completely anonymous. There’s no linkage to the We Are The Music Makers Forum, it is just completely blank, nothing about the genius behind this. You just get the music that orange screen displaying artist, song name, and album and release date. 

You see over 986 uploads, all quality. Really BATalsdr, I feel that you make the world a better place. Please be fruitful and multiply.

BATalsdr

Of course that is his YouTube channel. Take a listen, have a laugh.