Konx-Om Pax - Ways Of Seeing - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

On 'Ways Of Seeing' Konx-om-Pax has switched up the mood and hit gold. He has made an album filled with joy and sunshine, saturated with the feel of Berlin Techno. Tom Scholefield has moved on from the dark ambient and brittle rave of the first two Konx-om-Pax albums, which were a reflection of his hometown Glasgow's music scenes. After a recent move to Berlin, the textures of Glasgow's musical strains have fused into an accessible and friendly mix of poppy melodic electronica built from a stricter 'less is more' sound pallete, closer in spirit to the music of his adopted city. It's also a record which was made in opposition to recent music he has been hearing, in particular the troubled, dark and noisy experimental music coming out of Berlin. Tom wanted to focus on more joyful qualities, making this a record imbued with warmth and happiness, a panacea to the darkness and disorientation all of 2019. Stripped away to just the good bits, 'Ways Of Seeing' is a pleasure to listen to.A LA MelodySäule Acid (ft. Silvia Kastel)Paris 5amB I'm For Real (ft. Nightwave)RezC Optimism Over DespairEarthly DelightsMissing SomethingD Day DreamsMagenta OneThe Paleontologist

Four Aces Guitar Quartet - For Aces [COMPACT DISCS] date 02/03/2017

Tom 'Konx-om-Pax' Scholefield's Caramel is quite a different record from the dark, mould-pocked ambience of his debut 'Regional Surrealism'. Although it's primarily a beatless album, it's one with a big smile on it's face. Scholefield started making 'Caramel' after his last record in 2012, InchMy surroundings have a direct influence on the mood of what I make. I made Regional Surrealism when I was living in a big empty flat on my own in Glasgow town centre surrounded by concrete and junkies. Moving next to the park, closer to friends and getting to tour the world had a positive effect on the feel of the tracks.Inch 'Caramel' has a lightness and energy, an unrepentant joyful cheesiness even - like the rave piano and spiralling arpeggios of 'Cosmic Trigger' or the big beatless build up of the title track. InchA lot of the tracks are very simple, that's quite an important theme.Inch He adds InchI remember the Human League talk about how you can play their songs using only a couple of fingers on the synth, or Boards Of Canada saying it's important to be able to hum their melodies really easily.Inch There's also a strong element of rave memory in this ambience. It's influenced in some ways by touring the world with Lone doing visuals and DJing, but also from simply listening to old rave tapes and taking in the warmth and energy. As he says InchSome of the tracks are like photocopies of photocopies of rave tracks, where the drums have dissolved and it's just the melodies that have survived.Inch You can hear this distinctly on 'Perc Rave'. Other tracks are more or less drones that build into melodies, like 'Beatrice's Visit', as he says InchI'm always trying to find the most ecstatic and basic loop and just let it run and do it's thing. I heard a funny story about Basic Channel popping out to get a kebab and letting their machines run while they were out.Inch Other tracks ap