Two and a Half Questions for Windy & Carl

Can you describe the process of recording this album?i will only, at this time, give a shorter answer to this.......in the midst of a very difficult time in life, carl and i started recording. we were supposed to have gone on vacation, but instead stayed home for 4 days …

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VA - Intelligent Toys 5 (Sutemos)

The Sutemos collective is a Lithuanian net label which has been releasing free EPs and compilations since January 2004. Intelligent Toys is one of their best series, in which the label collects works from a roster of eclectic electronic musicians across the globe. And …

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Hildur Guðnadóttir - Without Sinking (Touch)

It is dark, dense, and brooding. The sky is gray. Winter is refusing to leave. Wind becomes the rhythm; dissonance - the melody. In the delicate hands of the Berlin-based (but Icelandic by birth) Hildur Guðnadóttir, the cello whispers and moans. Perhaps it's grieving …

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Two and a Half Questions with Hildur Guðnadóttir

What do you mean by "Without Sinking"?
Without Sinking refers to a feeling of going up, but still holds the quality of going down. It also gives a feeling of water, which is a strong influence on my music.
The music on your album is very melancholy. Is there a story …

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The Refractors - 8 Year Sleep (Dynamophone)

I first discovered The Refractors through their hand packaged and physically painted copy of All Colors Run EP, which they self released in 2008 and were kind enough to send over. I say "discovered" not because I want to take any credit for finding them before they got …

Two and a Half Questions with The Refractors

What brought on an idea behind this conceptual album?
History being cyclical and the lessons unlearned.

With the title such as 8 Year Sleep, are you implying that you/we are awake now?
We would refer to a certain proposition that was passed here in California as clear …

VA - Sound of Slow Flow Vol. 1 (Slow Flow)

The shadows recede into their coldness. She shows up this morning. With her light breeze and the blue skies, Spring begins another cycle. The light synthetic chirping in my headphones joins that of the birds. And they all sing. On the train, I read Haruki Murakami's …

Alva Noto - Xerrox Vol.2 (Raster-Noton)

Alva Noto returns with a second installment in his five-part planned Xerrox series. On this follow up to Xerrox Vol. 1 (Raster-Noton, 2007), Carsten Nicolai turns up the volume in static electricity working with the concept of copying sounds. A copy of a copy of a copy …

Lulu Rouge - Bless You (Music For Dreams)

When I posted the Headphone Commute's Best of 2008 list, I received a lot of emails that amounted to "You forgot Lulu Rouge!" What? Lulu who? Yes, I'm sure there was an album that I missed in 2008 (I missed hundreds of them). But with enough pokes in the same direction …

Two and a Half Questions with Lulu Rouge

How did you come up with the name Lulu Rouge?
We had a Sunday club which we had to name, and after the usual name brainstorming session, our good friend Trentemøller actually came up with the name Lulu Rouge. When the venue ended after many years of Sunday fun, it …

Two and a Half Questions with Yagya

Tell us about your process of recording rain, city sounds, and nature atmospherics.
I didn't record the atmospheres myself. I'm actually rather surprised that some people think that. I think people who have lived in Iceland hear that right away/from the start -it doesn't …

Follow Me to LA

I'm out in Los Angeles this weekend, to cover Resonance Forms festival with William Basinski, Richard Chartier, Christopher Willits, Kadet Kuhne, Lucky Dragons, Yann Novak and Celer and many more! Join in the fun and follow my updates via Twitter or Facebook.

Lissom - Nest of Iterations (Dragon's Eye)

Descending down a steep slope, I slowly enter a cavern populated with dripping stalactites, swinging wind chimes, and wondering whispers. The dark atmosphere soaks up the humidity of a distant buzzing organism and spews it out through DSP filters and control voltage …

Two and a Half Questions with Lissom

Since you're also a video artist, do you have a particular piece which accompanies Nest of Iterations? Is it possible for you to tell us in words a bit about it?
I am currently developing a live cinema performance that will contain pieces from Nest of Iterations. For me …

Jega - Geometry (Planet Mu)

Here's a brief history of Planet Mu, which is very much relevant to Jega. Planet Mu was born in 1995, and was originally setup as a sublabel of Virgin Records, on which it initially planned on releasing music by µ-Ziq (Mike Paradinas), and similar artists. The …

Label Profile: Somnia

It's time for another installment in our Label Profiles feature.
This month, it's an in-depth interview with Evan Bartholomew of Somnia.

Read Label Profile: Somnia on reviews.headphonecommute.com

Rival Consoles - Helvetica (Erased Tapes)

From the label that brought you majestic modern classical music from Icelandic rising star, Ólafur Arnalds, comes a new installment in emotional... wait... what's this? My expectations for melodramatic orchestral stabs are shattered by explosive drums and drilling …

Two and a Half Questions With Ryan Lee West

I hear some very advanced techniques in your production, yet you only have a few EPs under your belt. When and why did you start producing?
i've been producing for a few years now, i guess i'm interested in what Stockhausen, Eno amongst others pioneered - using the …

Resonant Forms (Los Angeles, April 3 - 5, 2009)

I rarely get this excited about live shows these days. Don't get me wrong, I love to see the artists perform. But with the bad sound system, rowdy crowd, and god awful hours, it's difficult for the event to compete with my studio speakers. But Resonant Forms is a whole …

Bersarin Quartett - Bersarin Quartett (Lidar)

From the very few opening notes, I know that I'm in for a treat. As the album progresses, I get wide-eyed, and instead of paying attention to details [I know I will be coming back for more later], I spend time researching, tracing the steps that led me to accidentally …