ARTICLES
2006 Top 10s and 20s
2006 Artist Picks

ALBUMS
17 Pictures
Angina P
Ateleia
Benni Hemm Hemm
The Boats
Cappablack
Celer
Dead Letters Dead Words
Deceptikon
Deerhunter
Denzel + Huhn
Displayaz
Dollboy
Drone
Eluvium
Emanuele Errante
The Eternals
Fear Falls Burning
Marcus Fjellström
Fonoda
Funkstörung
Goldfrapp
Gyroscope
Robert Henke
James Holden
The Idealist
Anders Ilar
Landing
LCD Soundsystem
Library Tapes
L Pierre
Lullatone
Tor Lundvall
Mad EP
Mahogany
Melodium
Mem1
Daisuke Miyatani
Mole Harness
Momus
Monoceros
Mormo
Mothboy
Original Hamster
Pierson & Horton
Prince Valium
Radical Face
Retail Sectors / Yaporigami
Rylander & Elggren
Scott Solter Plays PIM
Sideshow
Silicone Soul
Skream
Splinters
Mark Templeton
Thread Pulls
T. Raumschmiere
Tycho
Ultre
Virculum
Xela

COMPILATIONS/MIXES
AudioArt 03
Cumulous
Dubstep Allstars Vol. 4
Eriksen / Toft / Utarm
Katapult VA Vol. 3
Let's Lazertag Sometime
Mr Geoffrey & JD Franzke
Skagen / Halvorsen / Toft
Tectonic Plates

3"/7"/10"/12"/EPs
Gabriel Ananda
Robert Bardini
DAT Politics
Dead Letters / R. Sundin
Dogmixer
Benjamin Fehr
Fenin
HL
I Make This Sound
Zoë Irvine
Kyriakides and Moor
Lamont & 2tall
Ljud. & Piloten / Kama Aina
Jacob London
Sam Mcqueen
Miskate
Ryo Miyashita & Hiiragi_
[nara]
New Faces
Of / Greg Davis
Charlemagne Palestine
Phon.o vs Litwinenko
Portable
PostPrior
Samarah
Nicholas Sauser & Ditch
Someone Else
Hannes Teichmann
Tractile
Andy Vaz

IMAGES
F.S. Blumm

Mole Harness: Out of the Walled Pathway
Stray Dog Army

The first detail one might notice about James Brewster's marvelous third Mole Harness album is that it features four compositions of dramatically contrasting duration—three relatively concise pieces capped by a half-hour epic. Though the detail catches one's eye, of considerably greater import is the high caliber of music-making.

Brewster's previous Mole Harness album, A Present From the Future, was generated entirely from guitars and much of the current one is too, so it's conceivable that processed guitars also were used to produce the resonant church organ tones in “The Sunless Pool and Home” and “A Feast For Regret.” Regardless, the effect of multiple layers of crystalline tones intersecting in the former is lovely, especially when the tones merge hypnotically as they coalesce into different chord formations. Brewster layers a fluid phalanx of chiming guitar parts atop a subtly textured base of ambient hiss and skipping patterns in “Fallout Census Man” and presents a melancholic two minutes of electric guitar in “Foothills of the Informant” that's affecting in its unadorned simplicity.

The album's centerpiece “A Feast For Regret” is majestic in both duration and feel. There's a transcendent aura about the piece, as layers of propulsive hi-hat patterns, incandescent organ tones, and shuddering guitars collectively escalate. The piece begins by randomly layering two entirely different tracks, pitting them against one another for dominance, though eventually unites them during the second half. Ten minutes in, the intensity subsides, leaving only the quietly ringing pitter-patter of the percussion, before the guitars and organ tones re-emerge to quickly re-establish the earlier density. The final third presents a glorious, hymn-like meditation of beatific guitar and organ tones that's simply beautiful. Structural details aside, this is remarkable music—magisterial, heavenly, and ultimately poignant—that invites and rewards surrender.

January 2007