I find it hard to believe anyone reading this site is not at least somewhat familiar with the work of Matthew Dear. His records have been both critical and commercial successes, resulting in bona-fide classics under multiple monikers (Jabberjaw’s “Girlfriend” and “EP2″ under his birth name spring to mind immediately). 2008, however, was a disappointing year for Matthew Dear fans, and March’s “Love Letters” as False offered little reprieve. It was as if all Dear’s once-varied identities had simmered down to a similar, stagnant “minimal” sound. With the resurrection of Audion and a series of EPs building up to a full-length album, this has changed.
audion
Ellen Allien, Out Remixes
December 1, 2008 – 9:07 PM
[BPitch Control] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)
Ellen Allien’s Sool album was cold and precise, and “Out” stands as a fine example of its poker-faced mood: In its original form, “Out” is resolutely unyielding, the vocals sent shuddering and twisting through reverb, edited into stammering machines. It shares with the music of its producer AGF a distanced [...]
Matt John, Trampolin
December 3, 2007 – 9:47 PM
[BAR25] (buy) (buy)
German producer and BAR25’s most frequent contributor, Matt John, has quite a knack for evoking uneasy yet familiar feelings with his sound design. In “Hawaii You,” his hit collaboration with Ricardo Villalobos, it was that brief clunk of melodic color between foreign vocal samples — a computer alerting its user of a finished [...]