Articles
2007 Ten Favourite Labels
Backtracking Greg Davis
Shackleton Interview

Albums
John Luther Adams
Joseph Auer
Commix
Dartriix
Floratone
Furniture
Shuta Hasunuma
Richard Hawley
Hologram
Icarus
Kiln
Kobol
Labradford
Last Days
M83
Mai
Darren McClure
Near the Parenthesis
David Newlyn
Objekt4
OK Ikumi
Ontayso
Wendel Patrick
Phon°noir
Pocahaunted / Robedoor
Poostosh
Prefuse 73
Quosp
Rapoon
The Retail Sectors
Skull Disco
Socos
Supersilent
Tigrics
Trentemøller
Zuydervelt / Baars / Veld.

Compilations/Mixes
Airport Symphony
Devil in the Detail
Dinky
EXPANSION | contraction
Funckarma
Little Darla v. 25
One Five Zero
Playgroup / Alter Ego
Signal Path
Soul Jazz Singles
U-cover Mix 03 [IDM]
Ricardo Villalobos
We Are All Cotton-Hearted
Well Deep

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Basic Unit
Bodycode
Kit Clayton & Sutekh
Dartriix
Ditch
INKlings
Insanic4
Lackluster
Najem Sworb
Ontayso
Sutekh
The Tamborines
Telafonica
Zainetica

Kiln: Dusker
Ghostly

The term ‘meticulous' finds its most perfect application in describing the music of Kiln. Every element and moment of the group's full-length Ghostly debut, Dusker, is painstakingly considered, resulting in one of the most purely satisfying listening experiences in recent memory. The Michigan-based trio superficially invites an ‘instrumental rock' label, given the presence of bass, drums, and guitar in its music, but Kiln's production and compositional sensibility aligns itself much more closely to dub, especially when the group's material is so radically transformed by electronic flourishes. Kiln's music is primarily about purposeful flow and texture, with melody and extreme dynamic contrasts secondary.

Cataloguing the sum-total of manipulations in a given piece would fill pages; for brevity's sake, let's simply say the songs' insistent grooves hurtle forward amidst incessant swirls of tears, wipes, clicks, pans, and ripples, with such effects given further dimensionality when billowing echo is added to the mix. The opening four songs generally hew to the style of Sunbox—oceanically textured, bass-driven dubscaping (“Rustdusk” a perfect exemplar)—but a radical shift arrives with the fifth, “Airplaneshadows,” when pitter-pattering piano lines make the piece resemble a countrified shuffle as much as a prototypical Kiln tune. Of course, the group's customary textural focus quickly emerges but the song's sunlit placidity comes as a startling yet refreshing change nonetheless. That entrancing mood carries on into the peaceful setting that follows, “Flycather,” and the equally arresting “Arq.” Dusker gradually pulls back towards the group's signature territory (clearly instantiated by a brief ‘rebuild' of “Airplaneshadows” titled “Korsaire”) with the panoramic guitar-based sweep of “Sunsethighway” and “Tigertail.” Nowhere is the group's attention to detail more evident than on this beautiful closer when soft ripples spill across the stereo field.

December 2007