Tuesday, February 24, 2009

February's New Releases

MILIEU / WAVERIDER
3" CD-R EP
MML054 / EDITION OF 50

The second single from the forthcoming Swaying Palms album, Waverider presents seven starry-eyed feelgood Milieu tracks full of funky basslines, sex-on-the-beach synths, big breaks and melodies sweeter than a Capri Sun on LSD. Some crusty tropical crunk for those of you who can remember those family vacations in the 80's, building sandcastles, getting pulled down the shore in the tide, baking in the sun. Put on your shades and grab your board - it's time to go! Think "Theme From A Nude Beach" meets Casino Versus Japan meets Henry Mancini at 16 RPM. Limited to 50 copies.

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COPPICE HALIFAX / GANYMEDE ICECAPS
3" CD-R EP
AB1 / EDITION OF 50

Kicking off a brand new catalog set (which you can read more about here) is something of a new "era" of the Coppice Halifax sound. Entering for the first time into truly deep and dubby territory, this three track EP is the beginning of what will be the charted course for Coppice Halifax in the 2009 year. Taking heavy influence from pioneers like Basic Channel, Wolfgang Voigt, Monolake and Pole, as well as newer favorites such as Rod Modell, Yagya and Anders Ilar...these three tracks are bouncy, minimal and clean, yet not without a very notable texture and atmosphere. Roomy reverbs phase in and out over the mix while skittering delays dance all over a punctuated drum sequence. Sometimes subdued, other times four-to-the-floor, but all around deep and minimal. Expect this series of EPs to grow throughout 2009 in a hopefully new and interesting way.

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COPPICE HALIFAX / PORCELAIN SURFACES
3" CD-R EP
AB2 / EDITION OF 50

The second EP in the AB series, and even more minimal than Ganymede Icecaps. Pristine open spaces are filled with intricately placed rhythms and micro-melodies. Off-white, clean and full of reflected fluorescent light. "Porcelain" is the closest to the Berlin techno sound Coppice Halifax has come so far, while parts one and two of "Icecaps" bring a little more familiar funk into the picture. Simple music for those who like it that way.

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New Sublabel - CO_RD Tapes


You read it correctly - I've started the first proper "sublabel" of Milieu Music: CO_RD Tapes! This label will be cassette-only releases of ambient/guitar-based music with a very cozy home-time aesthetic. Think lots of pastoral field recordings under sometimes-pretty, sometimes-sad, sometimes-droney guitar playing, soaked in 10-acre reverbs and bundled up in a warm analog format with some colorful photographs to get your listening mind in the right place. These tapes will be STRICTLY limited runs of 25 blue tapes each, and the music is totally new and exclusive. For people who enjoyed things like Sun White Sun, Eight Thousander or Of The Apple, these tapes are a must-listen! The first cassette, Appalachian/White Deer, is already out, so check it out!

Monday, February 23, 2009

January Shop Updates!


MILIEU / PINWHEEL CAROUSELS
FOUR YEARS OF MILIEU MUSIC
MML050
EDITION OF 50

Can you believe it's been four years already, since I started this whole thing up with a small mailing list and no website? It seems to have gone by so quickly, and it's pretty much a perfect coincidence that with the start of 2009, we've landed right on catalog number 50! I can imagine how daunting this catalog must really look to a newcomer, so for that reason (among others) I've
decided to commemorate #50 with Milieu Music's first ever compilation. This disc is a look back all the way to the very beginning of Milieu Music, with me hand-picking some of my favorite tunes and including two brand new unreleased ones as well. Packaged in the "old school" format of a blue papersleeve with inkstamped cardstock inserts, and bargain priced at only eight dollars. A perfect introduction to Milieu Music for the uninitiated, as well as a worthy collection of Milieu tunes for the collectors out there.

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MILIEU / AZURINE DRONED
3" CD-R EP
MML051 / EDITION OF 50

You may have caught me hinting on the mailers about 2009 seeing the release of lots of new Milieu, and so appropriately with the new year starting, here is the first. A three track 3" CD-R containing some of the bounciest tropical punch Milieu sounds ever laid to tape. This single serves as a precursor to the forthcoming album (no definitive date yet) Swaying Palms, which will be equally tropical. The title track may make some listeners recall the dubby tropical atmosphere of "Sway Leaf" (from the In Hills Made Of Clouds 3" at Earstroke) only this time it has been seriously expanded upon and drawn out to a lazy 10-minute affair. Limited to 50 copies.

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BRIAN GRAINGER & DAVID TAGG / VARIANTS
MML052 / EDITION OF 50

Three extended live improvisations that I did in late 2007, using David Tagg's then-unreleased album Dulcimer Studies as a principal sound source, buried under a setup including a twelve-string acoustic guitar and several effects. The result is bright and slightly dissonant at times, but altogether pretty much a straight drone album. For those of you who enjoyed Porous Variations, this will be quite to your liking. A bit dark at times, a little pretty even, but very monochromatic and hazy. Limited to 50 copies in white papersleeves with patterned sepia-paper inserts.

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COPPICE HALIFAX / LUXURY DANCEHALL
3" CD-R EP
MML053 / EDITION OF 50

The first Coppice Halifax release of 2009, which, like the Milieu EP, will preface a handful of new releases under that moniker as well. This 3" single sees some really psychedelic ambient techno happening, somewhere between the tropical-clouds of Ocean Lion and the crackly wash of the self-titled EEDCD-08. "Luxury" samples Delius and builds a smoky dubby limo-drive through the boulevard at night...you can even roll the window down and see everything moving in super-slow-mo. Two versions of "Dancehall" follow, the first sounding like an ocean-faring cousin of "Nettles" with bouncy house beats and crackly seafoam melodies, and the second bringing to mind influences of Gas or Basic Channel with some liquefied drum sounds pooling around a rich symphonic drone and a huge sub-bassline. Limited to 50 copies in clear plastic sleeves with rad lazer-80's paper inserts.

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