ARTICLE
2006 10 Favourite Labels

ALBUMS
aMute
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Asphalt Jungle
Joseph Auer
Avia Gardner
Tommi Bass
Caural
Cdatakill
Christ.
Conjoint
Contriva
Cursor Minor
DJ Soul Slinger
DJ Wally/DJ Willie Ross
DoF
Electric Penguins
Encre
Flashbulb
Fuckpony
Funckarma
Cedric Gervais
Eglantine Gouzy
Greater Than One
Greg Haines
François Houle
Housemeister
Jan Jelinek
Eleni Karaindrou
Kode9 + Spaceape
Takagi Masakatsu
Mini
Move D
The New Law
Nuuro
Qwel & Meaty Ogre
Rant
Max Richter
Janek Schaefer
Svarte Greiner
Thighpaulsandra
Unwed Sailor
Geoff White
Wilt
Yellow6
Jesse Zubot

COMPILATIONS/MIXES
4 Women No Cry Vol. 2
Analog for Architecture
Assemblage Sessions
Jimmy Van M
King Unique/Nubreed
Monza Club Ibiza
Pop Ambient 2007
Rub-N-Tug
Thankful
The Rorschach Suite

3"/7"/10"/12"/EPs
Baseheadz
Big Toe
Franco Cangelli
Richard Chartier
Deadbeat/Monolake
Depth Affect
Diebombshelters
DJ Koze
Eltron
Johan Fotmeijer
Hellothisisalex
Mitsuaki Komamura
Múm
Ozka
Seekers Who Are Lovers
Strategy
Tandem 5
Andi Teichmann
The Twilight Sad
Ray Valioso

Contriva: Separate Chambers
Morr Music

Appearing three years after If you had stayed …, Contriva's Separate Chambers seems a natural complement to another recent Morr release, Couch's Figure 5. Both outfits are quartets of a somewhat ‘post-rock' disposition, and both include female members who've established themselves outside the group (Couch's Stefanie Böhm is also one-half of Ms. John Soda while Masha Qrella recently released a first-rate solo album on Morr). But unlike Couch, Contriva (Qrella plus Max Punktezahl, Rike Schuberty, and Hannes Lehmann) boosts its instrumentals with an occasional vocal song and, tellingly, the two on Separate Chambers rank among the album's most appealing.

The instrumental material—succinct folk-rock instrumentals that are more pop than prog—emphasizes accessible melodies and simple structures, and a good deal of it impresses. There's a heavy emphasis on jangling acoustic and electric guitar interplay and an occasional European (France) scent seeps in courtesy of accordion. The feel is laconic, nonchalant, and intimate, though guitars rise to a nice snarl in a few places. The reverberant twang of a desert guitar bleeds over a languorous groove in “Good to Know” while “Number Me” engrosses with its uptempo breeziness. A sly hint of bossa nova creeps in along the organ and spiky guitar edges of “Say Cheese” and “Florida / Lay-by” features supple acoustic and electric guitar interplay topped by Tobias Hett's violin. The instrumentals are polished and executed with panache but they're also rather uninvolving and, frankly, not spectacular or fiery enough (during the overlong “Centipede” especially) to get terribly excited about.

The vocal cuts burst with energy: kickstarted by a fuzzy bass line, “Before” transforms itself into breezy, Broadcast-styled pop of the first rank once the silken vocals appear, while breathy singing adds luscious charm to the catchy folk-pop of “I Can Wait.” All of which leads one to conclude that, as an instrumental outfit, Contriva is certainly a more than decent proposition. But why it (like Couch with Böhm) doesn't exploit one of its obvious potential strengths—Qrella's vocalizing—is puzzling. If “Before” and “I Can Wait” are reliable indicators, without very much trouble at all Contriva could position itself as a quartet more akin to Broadcast than Tortoise. Then again, ten years on, Contriva might just be satisfied with the persona it's developed until now and be uninterested in redefinition.

December 2006