…according to our Ant on 01 September 2011. Damian Valles hasn’t been releasing solo music for a very long time. Only since around 2009 I think, however I suspect he’s been honing his sound for quite some time (in between playing in various bands over the past decade) as his previous releases on Hibernate, Under […]
Read More… from “Skeleton Taxa” by Damian Valles receives 5 stars from Norman Records
English Translation in the comments. […]
Read More… from il mucchio mag reviews Damian Valles – Skeleton Taxa
Kontakte’s “Hope” is the daily-postrock.com track of the day for 21 August 2011. http://daily-postrock.com/ […]
Review from lovedark.com… English translation On their sophomore album, London’s Kontakte strikes a perculiar but effective balance in textures. We Move Through Negative Spaces is as much informed by ambient music and electronica as it is by towering post-rock acts like Sigur Ros. Guitars ring out and build quiet layers, only to crash in distorted […]
Read More… from lovedark.com reviews kontakte’s “we move through negative spaces”
Is there any instrument dreamier than the glass harp? The glass harp is “ethereal” personified, the perfect centerpiece for an ambient album. Pawn takes full advantage of the instrument, layering the sharp drones with delicate piano and field-recordings to remarkably beautiful effect. Islet is a brief EP, clocking in at just over twenty minutes, which is enough time for the […]
Review from EtherREAL Webzine of “We Move Through Negative Spaces” by Kontakte: Il y a une demi-douzaine d’années, un courant post-rock anglais avait fait son apparition, comptant une bonne dizaine de formations. Depuis, quelques-unes se sont séparées (Redjetson, Dewiitje, From The Shards Of Comets !) mais la plupart sont toujours actives et ont même été […]
Read More… from EtherREAL Webzine reviews “We Move Through Negative Spaces”
For an instrumental group much like Explosions in the Sky, they mesmerized us for the entire length of their latest album We Move Through Negative Spaces – “Kontakte – The Owls Won’t See Us In Here” original article […]
Read More… from MusicUnderFire’s Song of the Week: “The Owls Won’t See Us In Here” by Kontakte
Modesty and reticence may be admirable traits in a person. But in music, they are mostly a sure-fire recipe for mediocrity. Well aware of this equation, London-based fourpiece Kontakte have made grand gestures and big ambitions the foundation of their oeuvre. Following in the footsteps of an already anything but shy debut, Soundtracks to Lost Road Movies, their second full-length We Move Through Negative Spaces marks another progression for the band: Yet more epic in its architecture, even more varied in its stylistic outreach, more daring in its arrangements, more ecstatic in its moments of blissful euphoria and more forlorn in its instances of sweet melancholia, it maximises the quartet’s sound and scope in every possible way: Pieces like proudly triumphant opener „Astralagus“ as well as a two-part, fifteen-minute closing suite composed of „Every Passing Hour“ and „The Ocean Between You and Me“, are inspired as much by the dynamics and emotional catharsis of rock as by forces of nature: Howling walls of stormy distortion, the burning brightness of shimmering harmonics and cooling waves of consoling harmonies combine into a work that is sure to leave no one cold – and many feverishly aroused. At the same time, the album marks a gradual shift in Kontakte’s stylistic outreach. While Soundtracks to Lost Road Movies was still indebted to the aesthetics of Krautrock, the title to standout-piece „Motorik“ openly referencing the genre’s emphasis on hypnotic grooves and slow-simmering rhythmical propulsion, for example, We Move Through Negative Spaces offers the highly personal blend of a Post Rock band driven by stuttering elecronic beats and the finely nuanced sensibilities of a neoclassical ensemble – with befriended violinist Brigid McCafferty adding timbral richness on select instances. The general impression of the album is therefore one of a work of change, and it is further reinforced by the inclusion of two pieces written by former member Paul Burton, thereby linking past, present and future of the band in an intriguing fashion. That is a challenging proposition for sure – but Kontakte would undoubtedly not have it any other way.
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