• Deep Down South: Instrumentals, Jet Setters & Midweek Mixers

    April 20, 2015 - By 

    The big announcement last week as we went to post the column was that PLUGD Records and the Triskel were bringing a live performance of Arthur Russell‘s ‘Instrumentals’ to Cork, happening at the arts centre on May 22nd. The 1974 concert piece, perhaps the most important of the avant-garde icon’s body of work, will be performed by an all-star nine-piece ensemble, including original collaborators: Peter Gordon, composer and bandleader of Love Of Life Orchestra; Rhys Chatham, composer; Ernie Brooks of The Modern Lovers; Peter Zummo, formerly of The Lounge Lizards; David Van Tieghem, formerly of The Steve Reich Ensemble &…

  • Tropics – Rapture

    January 30, 2015 - By 

    The second full-length release from vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Chris Ward, better known as Tropics, Rapture builds on 2011’s lushly produced Parodia Flare to create something equally atmospheric, if rather more reserved than its title might suggest. Opening track and lead single ‘Blame’ establishes the album’s intriguing combination of reticence and expansiveness, as Rhodes pianos, gently bubbling analogue synths and flickering snatches of noise provide the bed for Ward’s gentle vocal, while loose but forceful percussion brings momentum. Looseness is a watchword across the album, which is propelled by richly textured percussive arrangements that ebb and swell as organically as the melodic components.…