ARTICLES
Listening Post: E. Honig
Label Profile: Ad Noiseam

ALBUMS
Leo Abrahams
Ammoncontact
Anka
Lloyd Barrett
Beach House
Bibio
Christina Carter
Davis & Jerman
Ecstatic Sunshine
Ensemble
Fluorescent Grey
Freiband
[guÿôm]
Chris Herbert
Home Video
Larvae
Lullabye Arkestra
Mathieu / Schaefer
MONO & w. end girlfriend
My Robot Friend
Nicolay
Pieter Nooten
Nuccini
Obfusc
Objekt4
Over the Atlantic
Para One
Proem
Red Sparowes
The Remote
Root 70
Florencia Ruiz
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Alan Sparhawk
Andy Stott
Thumbtack Smoothie
Tortoise
Triosk
Vlor

COMPILATIONS/MIXES
Ad Noiseam 2001-2006
Another Generic Sampler
Bip-Hop Generation 8
Diary of a Sweet Day
Idea Hoard Uncut
Innature
Morrow Choral Orchestra
Noise Factory Vol. 3
Squadron 2
Warp Works

3"/7"/10"/12"/EPs
Alias & Tarsier
Audion
Caroline
Home Video
Iz & Diz
Sami Koivikko
Mai
Mathhead
Monomachine
Narcotic Syntax
Quinoline Yellow
Sigur Rós
Samartzis & English
Samartzis & Inada
Andy Vaz
Andy Vaz Remixes
Waterprotection

Mai: Snowing Downtown
Nacopajaz

Mai's 7-inch single Snowing Downtown harks back to a long-vanished era when the word ‘single' stood for ‘two three-minute songs.' But six minutes is all the time Swedish-French duo Dorian Dumont and Johanna Wedin need to whet one's appetite for their Nacopajaz debut album Still Need A Kiss. Though its mix of folk, pop, and electronic sounds is memorable enough, the group's secret weapon is clearly Wedin's stirring voice which haunts “Snowing Downtown” in a manner that recalls Julee Cruise. The song begins with a simple Rhodes theme embedded within vinyl crackle before Wedin's delicate vocal enters, echoing softly as it glides over a soft haze of guitar and keyboards. Dumont assumes the vocal chair in “Lips Apart,” a more aggressive excursion into electronic beatscaping that's hardly as affecting as “Snowing Downtown,” even if it does serve notice that Mai isn't interested in being reduced to a single style. Hopefully the album will fully exploit the considerable potential offered by Wedin's vocalizing.

October 2006