Volur - Disir - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

2017 , the sophomore album from the Toronto-based experimental doom trio. Produced by the band and mixed by Charles Spearin (Broken Social Scene), Ancestors is the follow-up to Völur's celebrated debut, Disir, which was hailed as Incha winsome blend of pastoral folk, gentle prog, atmospheric doom, and old world magicInch by Noisey. Just as Disir dealt with themes surrounding female figures from mythology, Ancestors focuses on the heroines' male counterparts and is the second part of a planned four album series spotlighting various elements of the old Germanic spiritual world. Völur's songs are long, quasi-narrative pieces that feature Laura C. Bates' violin assuming the role traditionally executed by a guitar, allowing the bass playing of Lucas Gadke (also of Blood Ceremony) to take on unique responsibilities in both lead and melodic roles while drummer Jimmy Payment (Do Make Say Think) feeds the band's bombastic, crushing oomph. Doom music (not necessarily metal) is about slow contemplation and the transfixing power of heaviness and Völur's weighty riffs, layers of feedback, dynamic, angular melodies and moments of beauty give heed to the band's promise to always seek newer modes of musical expression and discovery. Moving between high-tension heaviness and beautiful pastoral moods, Völur aims to reflect the world of primordial nature inspired by ancient myths and chilling poems of death and heroism. Ancestors takes you into a world of stories that have been shrouded by the fog of ages. But there's nothing obscure about this album it is the statement of an ambitious band defining their sonic territory. This is music as profound sound... prepare!

Lou Anne Nell - Simple Pleasures [COMPACT DISCS] Jewel Case Packaging date 10/02/2015

Over his first three albums, Homeshake's Peter Sagar followed his own idiosyncratic vision, a journey that's taken him from sturdy guitar-based indie-pop to a bleary-eyed take on lo-fi R&B. Now, with Helium, Sagar is putting down roots in aesthetic territory all his own. It comes through not only in the gauziness of the production, but also in the vulnerability of the songs themselves. Everyone Sagar encounters here - including himself - seems to be a step removed from present reality, whether by technology (InchAnything At AllInch), solitude (InchJust Like MyInch), or sweet fantasy (InchLike MariahInch). Helium was recorded and mixed by Sagar alone in his apartment in Montreal in early 2018. Freed of the rigid editing process he'd endured before, he was able to lose himself in pursuit of tone and texture. A budding interest in ambient and experimental music pushed him to tinker with the micro-sounds that surround the songs here. The warm chords of a Roland Juno 60 form the album's base, and gave him a clean palette with which to work. InchNo tape hiss, no humming power outlets and shitty mixing boards,Inch as he puts it. InchEverything just came out nice and pure.Inch