Yves De Mey - Drawn with Shadow Pens (Spectrum Spools)

so good he's got his own tag on this blog - ha!

his track record's better than Mo Farah's......

he is Yves De Mey

and Drawn with Shadow Pens on Spectrum Spools does not disappoint. It's a subtle work, though not lite, but rather heavy in places, in mood throughout, you might say....with sustained tones that snake into your noodle....as on the starter, Prelament, which, towards the end, arches its tail and stings your ass. Remains Of Rays, likewise, gently assaults you, if such a thing is possible, with spiked minimalism....moods, textures and tones combine throughout to capture your ears....a little shimmering here, crackle there...sometimes we may strain to hear but when relaxed, as if lulled by a New Age tape, our senses are constantly pricked by sounds...the stripped back power of Xylo dropping bombs on the otherwise barren soundscape...slowburn Stabbing In Fluid...yes, perhaps that best describes the album, knife slits water...the blade slicing liquid...and always a low end in evidence, the foundation, the depths...

Spectrum Spools

Sendai's Monad XVIII / Tate Britain Crowd Nightmare

Yves De Mey and Peter Van Hoesen's Sendai project continues with Monad XVIII on Stroboscopic Artefacts. It's a perfectly manicured razor-sharp set of sonic nails clawing your ears as you lock together, forming a beast with two backs, or rather, one back and four electronic musical parts which have wrestled you to the ground and penetrated your inner ear - it's love at first listen. (Stop it now! - inner Ed)

*****

The Turbine Hall entrance at Tate Modern yesterday

Went to Tate Modern yesterday to see the Malevich exhibition but it was full of Other People - the bastards! Most of them were probably there to see the Matisse Cut-Outs because they're pretty, or so we thought until we went into the Poetry and Dream section only to find people of all nations (except Britain) shuffling past the Picasso's and Dali's, or rather lingering in front of them for ages before shuffling on to clog up the rest of what was rightfully Our Space - the swines! They'd had their fill of Matisse and decided to gorge themselves on more Art, obviously. Thankfully, as you'd expect, they didn't pay much attention to things like the British Surrealist Group cabinet because, well, it wasn't Dali or Picasso or filled with nice paintings. It did, however, contain this photo which, upon closer examination, caused me to fall in love with Sheila Legge (second from right). I'm not the only one; apparently she had a secret affair with René Magritte. Lucky René! Not that I condone such behaviour. Still, LJ had to drag me away, causing a sound like a plumber's suction cup at work as my lips were wrenched from the glass.

So we didn't get to see the Malevich exhibition and the Poetry and Dream galleries were nightmarish, with the exception of dreamy Shelia and other great works which The Herd ignored, thus allowing us to appreciate them. This Art tourism game is way out of hand. How dare they all come here and ruin my afternoon! After half an hour I'd had enough. Malevich can wait...probably until a mid-week, first thing in the morning.

Shuffle mode listening courtesy of The Machine...

Synthi Bossa Nova - Piero Umiliani / Cybernauts - Jean-Jacques Perrey / Dr Who theme (stereo version) - BBC Radiophonic Workshop / Can I Do Something For You - Fred Myrow / Time Itself - Sone Institute /
Itlit (get 0) - Autechre / Words of Advice - William Burroughs / Music from 'Cosmos' - Artemiev/Kreitchi /
Oratorio - Baudouin Oosterlynck / Kolossus - Kreng / Keyop - Lego Feet / Poignee De Sole - Michael Magne / Salt and Pepper - Lee Perry / The Machines - David Shea / The Red-Eyed Rats - Creed Taylor / Grief and Repetition - Oneohtrix Point Never / Moto Centripeto - Lesiman / Chanson De Geste - Dennis Smalley / Scenic Railway - Serge Gainsbourg / Eigenface - Der Zyklus / The Relic Ship - Gino Marinuzzi / Ice Carrier - Yves De Mey / Anticipation - Eric Framond / Electronic Track 4 - Peter Bonello / Spleen - Pierre Laurency

*****

Yves De Mey - Double Slit (SEMANTICA)

Ooh, yes, um....ah...Yves De Mey's created a corker here, you know. He usually does. I'm a fan. That big fat sound, fizzing electrics, putting the bomp in the bass, spatially correct, clean-but-scuzzy, a bit soiled but fresh, flirting with avant-gardism but getting inside tasty grooves...sound that shoots straight into your head and circulates...yes...revel in the noise of a collapsing wave function and quantum particles dancing in space...

Bandcamp