Electronic Folk Music

Bluermutt - "The Broken City" (MP3)
Bluermutt - "Androids' Breath" (MP3)
Bluermutt - "Indoor Failure" (MP3)
Bluermutt - "Single Touch" (MP3)

Bluermutt's "Dislocation (and Consequences)" EP oscillates between highly processed Folk, Krautrock and melodic Electronica. Strength to his compositions is always the strong melodies, governed by a warm and rich production. Maybe this is why I consider Bluermutt Pop music rather than anything else- albeit, Pop music with respectable edges.

The first four tracks are breathtaking: "The Broken City" sounds like a dedusted Harmonia jam, ca. 1974, so full of melancholy sweetness and glittering textures. "Android's Breath" features Leafcutter John, soul alike when it comes to "Fractal Folk". His mature yet gentle voice fits the Bluermutt sound neatlessly. Wow. "Indoor Failure" eventually is pure candy. Over a Four Tet-style instrumental, vocals and guitar perform a wonderful Pop melody. Ohrwurm, you were warned! On four, "Single Touch" introduces the ambient part of "The Dislocation (and Consequences)". Warm and cracking Dub, bathed in sunlit harmonies, and a lot of depth: just wonderful.

Support Bluermutt by sending over some bucks for the download! "The Dislocation (and Consequences)" EP is available for pay-as-you-like via bandcamp.

MP3 Electronic Pop Music Download

Artist-Website: skyapnea.com
Release: Bluermutt - The Disloaction (and Consequences) EP

Bluermutt - "Before Going To Bed" (MP3)
Bluermutt - "Fashion Arithmetics" (MP3)

Bluermutt refined his style on "Decivilice After Consumption". While "When I'm Not" showed Giovanni Civitenga's addiction to leftfield Pop only in traces, the new Bluermutt album can be considered an avowal to groove, melody and vocals in general. Therefore, it suits the Nexsound Pickup-series beautifully.

Be aware: Bluermutt music is light years away from radio-friendly muzak. But Giovanni's stumbling IDM and Hip Hop beats are do not stand isolated in tracks but form songs nowadays. Bluemutt is accompanied by a vocalists Fredo Viola, Steph Thirion and Linn Rasimelli plus a series of random sample voices. The wonky IDM hymn "Fashion Arithmetic" is outstanding, "Self Approach" strongly reminds me of Canadian Electropop wizard adcBicycle and "Before Going To Bed" is nothing but bewitching.

Much goodness can be found along the way. However, "Decivilice After Consumption" works best when listened in a whole. I like he subtle guitar meditation "Jimmy Coda" a lot, and "Daily Explosions" with songstress Kinn Rasimelli with all its out-of-space synthesizers is uplifting. Last but not least, it should be noted that the opening "Welcome To A Clear Bluer Sky" features Rap wunderkind Dorian Concept on synths. Damn good!

On www.decivilizeafterconsumption.com, you can listen to the whole album and read about production details.

Phlow CD Raffle

Kids, we keep it simple this time. The three first to twitter this post (#phlow #bluermutt #nexsound) and send me, Bettina, the link will get a CD copy of "Decivilice After Consumption" for free. How does that sound? Come on!

CD Electronic Music Purchase

Release: Bluermutt - "Decivilice After Consumption"
Label: www.nexsound.org
Artist-Website: www.skyapnea.com
Microsite: www.decivilizeafterconsumption.com

MP3 Purchase via www.necodo.com

Part of our "Run for Cover-Series"

1. Run for Cover #1: GoGooo’s “La Forét aux Petites Filles”
2. Run for Cover #2: The Flash-Cover Art From -N Netlabel
3. Run for Cover #3: Mickey Eats Plastic’s “To Kill The White Glamour”
4. Run For Cover #4: The Art of one!man
5. Run For Cover #5: Metal’s “Birthday Drones 3″
6. Run For Cover #6: Buben’s “Primogeniture”

Run for Cover No. 3 | Phlow Magazine launches a new series dedicated to the art of Netaudio: "Run for Cover". In bulk sequence, wonderful artworks will be presented and discussed. Number three is the outstanding textural and graphical art for Mickey Eats Plastic's Remix EP "To Kill The White Glamour" as reviewed in January.

The cover artwork was crafted by Matias Conduri, a scribble artists and graphic designer from the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Upon a mild grey cardboard surface, black and red strokes are entangled in manifold convulsion. Most dashes from a loose cross. The whole set of lines is concentrated in the middle of the picture with the main part of strokes in black color. Red comes in front the upper left. Apparently, there seem to be two layers: thin lines beneath, dashes more thick and long above. Some kind of a signature (?) can be found in the clew, untouched by any other line.

What I like best of Matias' art is the situation of apparently precise graphic elements into a scruffy cardboard-context. Here, the hand-drawn strokes and crosses function as some kind of reference to typical postmodernist graphic design with it's polished surfaces, highlights and smooth Apple-style shadings. Apart from any intertextual brown fields, his designs are analog imitations of digital achievements, created to bring joy to your eyes solely.

Still, Matias is a good designer the classical way- his artwork would have been beautiful and worth a feature without the aspects of analogism innit. This point convinced me finally to write about his cover for Mickey Eats Plastic rather than another fine piece of Netaudio art I had in mind: Processing's selftitled EP for the Resting Bell-Netlabel. Good one, too!

Music: Mickey Eats Plastic
Release: "To Kill The White Glamour"
Artist: Matias Conduri

Music: Processing...
Release: "Processing..."
Artists: Kati Mehden

Italian Postrockers Giardini di Míro put online a tiny remix-collection that incorporates an edit by Mickey Eats Plastic. I checked his website to see what's new and saw this beautiful EP popping up: remixes Mickey had constructed for a bunch of cool people in the last months plus two MEP-reworks. Every single one is subtle electric, with a chosen amount of Pop-appeal and je ne sais quoi .

The Ellul-remix focuses on the Country-style vocals and adds a heart-rendering synthesizer melody, Vienna Chip Hop-mastermind Dorian Concept (watch this guy!) becomes even more electric and hip-moving. I'm also pretty found of NAW's remix of "Every April": Toronto-based Neil Wiernik shift the tune into something bizarrely grooving and mesmerizing. Very worth the download, not least because of the great artwork by Matias Conduri.

MP3 Pop Music Download

Release-Site: Mickey Eats Plastic - "To Kill The White Glamour"
Direct Download: Mickey Eats Plastic - "To Kill The White Glamour" ZIP
Artist Website: www.mickeyeatsplastic.com

Three tracks are already online at the Nexsound-website and set high standards for the full-length release. His online debut "When I'm Not" from late 2006 has already been a masterpiece of Pop-influenced electronic music and atypical Indietronica. But it seems Bluermutt will be able to do even better. For his new tunes he makes extensive use of vocals, singing, speaking, filtered and pure. The production is advanced and in-depth yet subtle enough to let the catchy melodies unfold. Consider Zoot Woman, Dani Siciliano and dear Zavoloka for reference. The artwork is done by Andrea Calisi (Mattotti, huh?). High hopes for 2008!