textura

Albums
Alejandro & Aeron
Balustrade Ensemble
Jeremy Bible
F.S. Blumm
Cadence Weapon
Cataclyst
Cepia
Chloé
Cooler
Disinterested
edIT
Erik Enocksson
For Barry Ray
Ernest Gonzales
Grand National
Hakobune
Halou
Frode Haltli
Arve Henriksen
Ielasi & Ratti
Jumpel
Lawrence
Lickets
Manual
Melodium
Mono
My Fun
Marissa Nadler
Prints
Rekalix
Remote_ vs Ontayso
Will Saul
Sixtoo
Small Sails
Songs Of Green Pheasant
Christian Wallumrød
White Rainbow
Xeltrei
Yndi Halda

Compilations / Mixes
Paolo Mojo
Ewan Pearson
VA: 5 Years Get Physical
VA: Monza Vol. 2
VA: U-cover mix 01 [a]
VA: U-cover mix 02 [d]

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Ateleia
Pier Bucci
Cio D'Or
Cloudland Canyon
Curium
Laurine Frost
Dave Graham
Hakobune
The Infant Cycle
Lerosa
Lullaby Leagure
Mole Harness
Mowbray & Sullivan
Ontayso
School of Seven Bells
Science Teacher
Sleep Robot
Unwed Sailor
VA: Spies & Lies
Rick Wade

Xeltrei: Litotes
Symbolic Interaction

For those who didn't think Library Tapes' sound could become any more hermetic and minimal, there's Xeltrei, a new side project established by David Wenngren (aka Library Tapes) and Erica, his 21-year-old Swedish collaborator. Litotes, the group's debut and the Japanese label Symbolic Interaction's fourth release, is true ‘headphones' music, a half-hour set of ten pieces that couples piano playing with atmospheric settings constructed using field recordings and computer. The piano itself is heard as a muffled blur that resembles, yes, decaying library tapes exhumed from a long-forgotten basement archive, and is typically presented sparsely, so much so that one can hear the chords vanish into the pregnant pauses separating them in the aptly-named “Frugal.” In this genre, field elements often are used as secondary enhancement but, in Litotes' case, they assume a sonic presence equal to the piano, and function as Xeltrei's second ‘instrument.' At various times, one hears the far-off clatter of a train, sounds of the seashore and harbour, rustling winds softly blowing, and the industrial clanks and knocks of machinery. Consequently, the becalmed ambiance produced by the delicate piano playing character induces contemplation, while the field elements provide evocation. Listen to Xeltrei's late-night music with the lights down low, or perhaps off altogether.

October 2007