Pitchfork is an American online music publication founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres including pop, hip hop, jazz and metal. Pitchfork is one of the most influential music publications to have emerged in the internet age.
An Empty Bliss Beyond This World is the ninth studio album by the Caretaker, an ambient music project of English musician Leyland Kirby, released on 1 June 2011 through History Always Favours the Winners.
Channel Pressure is the debut studio album of electronic music duo Ford & Lopatin, consisting of producers Daniel Lopatin and Joel Ford. Following the group's abandonment of their previous name "Games" for legal reasons, they recorded the album at Gary's Electric Studios in Brooklyn, New York. It was released on June 7, 2011 as the first album to be issued on Software, Lopatin's own label under the Mexican Summer imprint.
Jacob Martin Portrait is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He is the bassist of the New Zealand psychedelic rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and a current member of the Portland-based alternative rock band Blouse.
Too Many Voices is the fourth studio album by English electronic musician Andy Stott. It was released on 22 April 2016 by Modern Love. The album involved Stott intending to create grime-influenced tracks, so much of the LP's sound palette is used from the Korg Triton, a workstation keyboard distinctively used in early grime instrumentals. Too Many Voices follows Faith in Strangers (2014) in terms of the dark and abrasive style of his discography first present on his EP Passed Me By (2011); however, it adds a much cleaner, more spacious, and what some reviewers labelled as an "airier" element to that sound, which caused the LP to garner more criticism from reviewers than his previous albums did, though critical reception was still very favorable. The album peaked at number 11 on the American Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
Reassemblage is the second studio album of Portland, Oregon duo Visible Cloaks, consisting of musicians Spencer Doran and Ryan Carlile. The record is named after Trinh T. Minh-ha's 1982 documentary film of the same name, since both works observe its subject matter without showing meaning to it. Reassemblage departs from Doran's past hip-hop releases for a more high-quality style inspired by the works of Japanese synthesizer music acts such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Ryuichi Sakamoto, all of which were featured on Doran's 2010 mix Fairlights, Mallets & Bamboo.
Motion Graphics is the self-titled debut studio album of American musician Joe Williams' project Motion Graphics. Williams initially planned it to be "a synth pop record without any nostalgia," and this plan turned into an ambient album about the feeling of being able to go to limitless places due to technology. In achieving this feel, Williams used the visual programming language Max for Live to create a virtual instrument that scrolled through 100 patches at random; when a note was inputed, the instrument froze at a patch. The record's overall sound palette is a combination of organic and non-organic elements; when using software instruments that replicated real-life instruments, such as clarinets and marimbas, Williams wanted to take advantage of the “quirks and glitches within them" that lead to the instruments making sounds that they could not possibly make if performed acoustically.
Music For Reliquary House / In 1980 I Was A Blue Square is a split album by American electronic musician Daniel Lopatin, known by his stage name Oneohtrix Point Never, and Rene Hell, the project of American electronic music artist Jeff Witscher. It showcases Lopatin's and Witscher's shift from the style of their early synthesizer-heavy recordings to electroacoustic music. The split album was released by NNA Tapes on September 17, 2012 to favorable opinions from professional reviewers.
On Vacation is a mini-album by Canadian electronic musician Michael Silver, known by his stage name as CFCF, and the second record in Balearic beat music label International Feel's On Vacation mini-album series. On Vacation was initially planned to be a project of two extended plays titled Road Movie and House Music; this was before an International Feel A&R worker suggested to Silver he should make the project one whole album. International Feel first released vinyl versions of the LP in Europe on February 17, 2016 before releasing it in digital shops all around the world on February 19.
Music for Objects is an extended play by Canadian electronic musician Michael Silver, known by his stage name as CFCF. The EP is a 24-minute set of eight compositions that are meant to showcase the emotion of everyday objects, a concept inspired by Wim Wenders' documentary film Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989). Music for Objects has the same ambient feel as CFCF's previous EP Exercises (2012) but with a much more uplifting tone. Music for Objects was released in July 2013 in European territories by Dummy Records and in North America by Paper Bag Records, and garnered favorable reviews from professional reviewers upon its distribution. Some critics wrote it was enjoyable without knowing its object concept, while others praised how it represented the objects.
The River is an extended play written and produced from 2009 to 2010 by Canadian electronic musician Michael Silver, known by his stage name as CFCF. It was inspired by Werner Herzog's 1982 film Fitzcarraldo. Described by RVNG Intl.'s press release as a series of "lucid sound sequences from a lunatic mind," the experimental downtempo psychedelic new age EP was analyzed by music journalist Jonny Coleman as the story of a character who is stranded in a rural, tribal land. The River is a set of six original tracks by Silver with digital download versions of the record containing four remixes of songs from the EP by acts such as Jacques Renault, Coyote, and Games. The River was released by label RVNG Intl. on October 12, 2010 to generally positive reviews from critics, some reviewers calling its more modern-sounding cuts to be the best of the entire record.
Exercises is the fifth extended play in the discography of Canadian musician Michael Silver, known by his stage name as CFCF. The extended play was inspired by brutalist architecture and several synthesizer-heavy modern classical and piano-only works that Silver listened to during the fall and winter of 2010–11, which were the "soundtrack" to how he felt "kind of uncertain” in those seasons. Its cover art by Ken Schwarz, Josh Clancy, and Travis Stearns shows one of the buildings the extended play was inspired by.
Young Death / Nightmarket is the eighth extended play released by William Emmanuel Bevan, an electronic musician known by his stage name Burial, and the 100th release in the catalog of the Hyperdub label. It departs from his previous two extended plays, Kindred (2012) and Rival Dealer (2013), in that it returns to Burial's signature sound consisting of vinyl crackle sounds, rain-filled atmospheres and vocal samples that was on records like Untrue (2007). It is also less dance-based than previous releases by the producer, with the percussion of "Young Death" being submerged by other sounds and "Nightmarket" being devoid of any drum beats.
Outside is the second studio album of Canadian electronic musician Michael Silver, known by his stage name as CFCF. Silver began work on a second CFCF LP shortly after the release of his debut album Continent (2009) in order to increase his reputation of being more than just a "house DJ." The record has feelings of being tired and hoping to reach something, which was influenced by Silver's experience in traveling to and from places such as New York, Toronto, and Montreal. He would often look at other landscapes while he was bored during travels and became "immersed" in the fantasies caused by looking at them.
Hanging Gardens is the debut studio album by Los Angeles-based electronic music production duo Classixx, consisting of Michael David and Tyler Blake. The duo had been making tracks since 2007 but did not decide to release a full-length album until much later because of their concerns over listeners really wanted an LP from them. In making the record, Classixx went for a record with "hooky melod[ies]," "some nice chords," and a positive feel-good tone while still having depth not common in dance music. Hanging Garden is an electropop album that contains elements of a wide variety of genres such as French dance music, rock, Chicago house, R&B, techno, and balearic beat. The LP features collaborations from acts such as Nancy Whang, Active Child, Sarah Chernoff, Jeppe, and Jesse Kivel.
Playin' Me is the debut studio album of British UK funky musician Merissa Campbell, known by her stage name as Cooly G. It wasn't until more than a year before the release of Playin' Me that Campbell began work on a full-length debut album as suggested by Hyperdub founder Kode9. Previously-released cuts including "Up in My Head," "Landscapes," and "It's Serious" appeared on the album's final track listing.
Radiance and Submission is the third studio album of Canadian electronic musician Michael Silver, known by his stage name as CFCF. Silver was inspired to make Radiance and Submission from his purchase of an acoustic guitar. Therefore, the LP involves numerous guitar melodies and harmonies playing at the same time. It was released on July 31, 2015 by the label Driftless Recordings and was Silver's first Billboard entry, peaking at number eight on the magazine's American New Age Albums chart. Radiance and Submission garnered a mixed critical reception upon its distribution.
Cascades is a collaborative extended play between electronic musician Michael Silver, known by his stage name CFCF, and neoclassical pianist Jean-Michel Blais. The EP is a set of five post-minimalist ambient re-workings, the first four of them being of original tracks by Blais and CFCF and the final one being a rework of John Cage's "In A Landscape." Released by the label Arts & Crafts on March 15, 2017, Cascades received very positive opinions from professional music critics, a common praise being the "distinct blend of the artists’ digital styles," stated PopMatters.
Phantom Brickworks is the eighth studio album by English producer Stephen Wilkinson, known by his stage name Bibio. Released on 3 November 2017, it's his sixth album for Warp Records and his first entirely ambient record. The album is a set of improvised compositions consisting of simple piano, synth, and guitar loops surrounded by tape hiss and field recordings. Making the songs based on the concept that "places can be haunted by meaning," Wilkinson mentally went into both real and fantasy places when producing the tracks. The album was well-received by reviewers, who called it Bibio's most accomplished record, and landed at number 11 on Time Out New York's list of the best albums of 2017.
Entertainment, Death is the fourth studio album by American experimental rock band, Spirit of the Beehive. The album was released on April 9, 2021 through Saddle Creek Records. Two singles were released ahead of the album: "There's Nothing You Can't Do", and "The Server is Immersed", which were met with critical acclaim. The album itself was met with universal critical acclaim, and appeared in numerous end of the year lists.
