Articles
2007 Top 10s and 20s
2007 Artist Picks
Meissner Interview

Albums
7 Hertz
Aarktica
Alka
Axiotronic
Dale Berning
BJNilsen & Z'ev
John Callaghan
Cousin Lou
Dif:use
Disrupt
Domink Eulberg
Donna Regina
Eedl
Erstlaub
FF Burning & BC Motel
Fibla
Figurines
Fond Of Tigers
Freescha
Brian Grainger
Inhabitants
Klimek
Liquid Stranger
Low Res
Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia
Northern
Adam Pacione
Part Timer
Steve Peters
Phreakon
Pig & Dan
Pinch
Rechenzentrum
Sebastien Roux
Sciajno & English
The Seasons
Slow Dancing Society
Steinbrüchel
Talvekoidik
Translations
Ulver
Uusitalo
Tony Wilson 6Tet
Wilson/Lee/Bentley

Compilations/Mixes
15 Exitos Grandes
Steve Lawler
Pole
Sven Väth

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Ada
Alland Byallo
Formication
Tim Hecker
Hybernation
Karoshi Bros
Lilienweiss
Move D
Tor Lundvall
Shreber Harber Mole FW
Sun Electric
Amon Tobin
Gez Varley

Translations: Daydreams and Memories
October Man

A hazy, neo-psychedelic aura rises off of Christian McClain's oft-pretty Translations material, and the eight folk lullabies comprising Daydreams and Memories manage to sound mystical but not pretentious. There's a nice soft-loud balance (though the balance tips slightly towards the former), plus some novel touches during the half-hour trip. The swoop of a bowed guitar, for example, boosts the stately, mantra-like flow of “In Zen” while pizzicato plucks lend “Twilight at Noon” a rather oriental character; in addition, high-pitched vocals lift its acoustic folk style high above the ground, and electric guitars bring some late-inning ferocity to the song too. Intricate vocal counterpoint in “Crowded Room” suggests a Brian Wilson influence while the breathy vocals and acoustic folk style of “Autumn Dream” call to mind both Nick Drake and Songs Of Green Pheasant. The very title “A Daydream in Smoke” offers a reasonably good encapsulation of the Translations style.

January 2008