Rich Ruth is from Nashville and makes highly emotive ambient music, some of which is the result of trauma of being held at gunpoint by carjackers. His two albums to date, Calming Signals from 2019 and I Survived, It's Over from 2022, use ambient as a starting point and veer off into cosmic space and free jazz, instrumentals that are sometimes in a blissed out meditative zone and sometimes wildly adventurous psychedelic trips, guitars and synths, loops and drones, sax and woodwind. Everything Rich does seems to be based on catharsis- for himself but also for us as listeners. He has a new album lined up for release, Water Still Flows, and the first fruits of it came out last week, a track called No Muscle, No Memory.
The video and the music seem very at odds with each other but the music is sublime, a transportative piece of music with a guitar solo at the start of it, a sax that replaces it, glass- like percussion and wood chimes and much more, a piece of music that somehow manages to be both heavy and light.
This is Angel Slide from 2022's I Survived, It's Over, six minutes of beautiful, ambient cosmic jazz that will give your day a different angle.
Back in February I started writing some guest posts at Ban Ban Ton Ton, Dr. Rob's one stop shop for all things Balearic, electronic and dance music oriented. I haven't posted any links here since I wrote about Richard Norris' February Music For Healing, a twenty minute long ambient track called Chrome, and Nina Walsh's Music To Fall Asleep To and then in March the new album by Belgium's Rheinzand, Atlantis Atlantis, a record shaping up to be one of 2022's best. Last month I went to the launch party for Disco Pogo, the relaunched Jockey Slut magazine. Mo and Charlotte from Rheinand were one of four people scheduled to DJ in Electrik in Chorlton. At an opportune moment I spoke to Mo and told how much I like the album and that I'd reviewed it for Ban Ban Ton Ton. In response he gave me a big hug.
Since March I've written a further six reviews, hopping around Europe and the world musically, with more in the pipeline. In chronological order then, with links to Ban Ban Ton Ton where you can listen to many of the tracks from the albums-
Field Works- Stations
An album in two parts, the first a set of recordings done by Stuart Hyatt (in association with The National Geographic Society and The Anchorage Museum) where Hyatt used microphones and ground recording devices to record the sound of the earth. He then added human voices to create a found sound/ ambient ten track album that is frequently beautiful. The second part sees the ten tracks (Field Stations) remixed. My review at Ban Ban Ton Ton is here.
Société Étrange- Chance
French instrumental three piece cooking a storm- there are references and comparisons to A Certain Ration, King Tubby, Tortoise, Adrian Sherwood, Can and Jah Wobble in my review which you can read here. Six echo laden, post- punk/ cosmic instrumentals.
Andreas Kunzmann- Album
Austrian 90s IDM/ techno made for home listening. Lots of fun and very engaging. Read more here.
The Balek Band- Medicines
Back to France, Nantes to be more exact, and some delirious, open minded dance music, a melding of synths and electronics with live instruments to make some lovely, exuberant, shape shifting Balearic/ cosmische/ nu disco/ house/ whatever else you can think of. Read and listen here.
BSS (AMS)- Bredius
Mysteriously titled artist and EP from Amsterdam, Dutch ambient techno with splashes of Detroit and Blade Runner and more besides. Four track EP, my review is here.
Rich Ruth- I Survived, It's Over
Nashville ambient/ instrumentalist Rich Ruth made the excellent Calming Signals back in 2019. His new album builds on the sounds on that album and the trauma of a carjacking outside his home to make one of 2022's most far reaching records, righteous drone/ ambient/ spiritual jazz. Read more here.
For those of you who'd like a Bagging Area meets Ban Ban Ton Ton uptown primer/ sampler I put this together, a forty minute mix featuring one song from each of the albums reviewed above.
There will now follow a break in transmission until early August. School finished yesterday and we're getting away today, off on our holidays for ten days in the sun in the Canaries. See you all when I get back. Adios amigos.
On the side of what used to British Home Stores in Stockport there is a full length set of murals, five concrete panels with tiled pictures illustrating the history of the town, commissioned in 1978. The murals/ mosaics were the work of two designers, Joyce Pallott and Henry Collins. BHS shut down many years ago, the building currently empty and at an unloved end of the Merseyway shopping centre. The panel pictured above, photographed last weekend when the sun came out briefly, shows Stockport's coat of arms (on the right) and then three figures- from right to left, a Cheshire farmer, Samuel Bamford (radical reformer of the 19th century from Middleton, north Manchester) and Richard Cobden (main picture. Cobden was a Manchester resident, manufacturer and radical MP who stood as candidate for Stockport, a free trade advocate, and anti- Corn Laws, anti- Opium Wars and anti- slavery campaigner). I hope that as Stockport redevelops itself they are not lost- a 2016 campaign to have them listed failed.
One of my favourite albums from 2019 was Calming Signals by Nashville artist Rich Ruth, a marriage of noise and ambient music,-drones, synths and guitars, equal parts crystalline jazz freak out and meditative listening experience. This song, Coming Down, was the opener.
Rich is back with a new album called Where's There Life, six tracks written during the early months of the pandemic. This is the prelude to the album, an instrumental ambient experiment called Goldenrods.
Isolation Mix 14 or Songs The Lord Sabre Taught Us. Fourteen songs, an hour and a quarter mix of records played by Andrew Weatherall. Most of them, not quite all but most, I heard first because he included them in a set or a mix on the internet or one of his radio shows, for 6 Mix or Music's Not For Everyone, or he referred to them in an interview. The quality of the songs and the breadth of genres and styles tells you everything you need to know about his taste and ear for a tune. The selection of songs here spans 1956 to 2019 and covers rockabilly, blues, 60s modbeat, post- punk, weird southern blues/ rock/ gumbo, 80s dance and proto- house, krautrock, Paisley Underground guitar heroics, 21st century fuzz rockers and electro- cosmische funkers, ambient- drone, avant- disco and a 70s country tinged ballad. Something for everyone.
I read an article recently that claimed that making end of year lists was merely an attempt to forestall death, that ranking and ordering things is for people who have an unnatural fear of death and who must be constantly trying to leave things in order before they go. A bit dark perhaps. A similar argument says that making lists is an attempt to place order on a chaotic and uncontrollable world- and one glimpse at the news will confirm that the world is both those things and getting more so- and people (men mainly) feel that if they can rank their albums/books/films then they have at least controlled a part of that world. So, with all those things being as they are, here's my end of year list. It doesn't seem to have much in common with the end of year lists I've read in the 'proper' music press or websites- so I must be out of step with what's really the best of the 2019. All I can offer you is what I've loved the most this year and some examples to sample.
Singles/songs/remixes/e.p.
There's a lot of chuggy, cosmic, Balearic, ALFOS style releases in this list, a top 30 for 2019, a golden year for music that evokes outer space, Mediterranean beaches and/or basement clubs thick with dry ice.
1. Silver Apples Edge Of Wonder (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
Released for Record Shop Day in April this remix is nine minutes of total joy, a dream turned into sound- the pitter patter drum machine giving gentle propulsion, the bouncy keyboard riff and metallic sounds echoing round and round and the softly sung vocal- 'waves, waves, Neptune's metronomes... relentless heartbeat of the sea'.
2. A close second was this three track release from Pines In The Sun, Albanian Balearica via Brighton. I know next to nothing about them but the wordless, sunshine shimmer of Sun and the gorgeous sprawl of Zig Zag Sea (plus Duncan Gray's remix of the latter) soundtracked much of my summer.
3. Apiento's single Things We Do For Love came out back at the start of the year, a slow motion dance floor shaped ode with synth bass and whispered vocals. My main regret is not being quick enough to get a copy of the limited run of 7"s.
4 and 5. A Certain Ratio have spent the year celebrating their fortieth anniversary and released this pair of superb songs, one a previously unreleased cover version from 1980 that was intended to be voiced by Grace Jones, the dark funk of House In Motion and the other a very Mancunian remix of their Dirty Boy single (featuring Barry Adamson and the voice of Tony Wilson), remixed by Chris Massey. The Dirty Boy remix in particular has floated my boat.
From this point onward there are a slew of singles, remixes and e.p.s that I've enjoyed this year, loads of brilliant music showing that 2019 has been a really good year. The next dozen or so especially have all been on heavy rotation.
6. Moon Duo Lost Heads 7. Meatraffle Meatraffle On The Moon (Andrew Weatherall Remix) 8. Four Tet Teenage Birdsong 9. A Mountain Of Rimowa A.M.O.R. e.p. 10. Plaid Maru (Orbital Remix) 11. Hardway Bros Chateau Comtal 12. Scott Fraser and Louise Quinn Together More 13. Four Tet Anna Painting 14. GLOK Dissident 15.Roisin Murphy Incapable (plus the pair of incredible Crooked Man remixes/dubs) 16. Craig Bratley Message To The Outpost e.p. 17. Field Of Dreams No 303 18. Fjordfunk Exile (including the Hardway Bros remix) 19. The Comet Is Coming Summon The Fire 20. Ride Future Love 21. A Man Called Adam Paul Valery St The Disco (Prins Thomas Remix) 22. KH Only Human 23. Shape Of Space Manifesto 24. Warriors Of The Dystotheque Things In The Shadows (Tronik Youth Remix) 25. ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლ e.p. 26. Shunt Voltage Link Up/ See It In Your Eyes 27. Boy Division Hot Pants 28. Dan Wainwright Keep Me Hangin' On (with Hardway Bros dub remix) 29. Duncan Gray Much Much Worse/ Where Clock Goes 30. Terr Tales Of Devotion (including the Prins Thomas Diskomiks)
Four Tet/Kieran Hebden has had a particularly good 2019, always innovative and entrancing and producing some of the best moments in a variety of guises and across a series of releases, including a live album recorded at Ally Pally in the summer that I've only just started listening to.
Edit: just realised I forgot San Pedro whose e.p. in June was a blast and should be in the list above somewhere.
Albums
I've bought and listened to what seems like an enormous amount of albums this year. The internet and streaming has made individual songs the focus again, a return to the halcyon days of the 7" and 12" single and their B-sides, and occasionally people write about the death of the album and the forty/seventy minute format (depending on whether its a vinyl album or CD). Looking through my pile of records and CDs and lists of downloads the album looks in really good health to me. There's more breadth to my album list, a wider variety of sounds and styles. I've fallen into an ambient/drone wormhole many times this year, a wonderful place to stay for extended periods. Psychedelia and cosmic psych rock has been at the front of the pile a lot. These are in no particular order, the first eight I genuinely couldn't pick between in terms of a favourite or a ranking, they're all the albums of the year.
Glok Dissident
Andy Bell (the guitarist from Ride) released the surprise of the year, a rich, gorgeous flotation through cosmic psychedelia, motorik drums and West German sounds, awash with floaty, dreamy synths and guitars. From the Tron-esque sleeve to the luminous green vinyl to the grooves contained within everything about this album was spot on.
Richard Norris Abstractions Vol. 1
Richard Norris has been exploring ambient music throughout 2019 (and before). This year he has released a pair of albums, Abstractions Vol. 1 and 2, filled with extended repetitive sounds, loops of melody, chimes and washes, drones, ambient noise, waves of reassuring sounds- deep listening. This year has been a car crash in many ways. The whole Brexit debacle, the constant noise and feelings of loss of control over our politics and culture, the sense of loss and the feeling that we're being driven over the edge by fanatics. This album has helped me switch off from it. I can put this on and it works in a calming way that nothing else does. If there's an N.H.S. left in five years time, this pair of albums should be available on prescription.
Meatraffle Bastard Music
Bastard Music is a strange record, surreal, bold and in places very funny. A vision of dystopia set to a ramshackle beat and some memorable melodies. Lyrically it deals with everything- nationalism, the exploitation of workers, Brexit, living in London versus living in the country, immigration, the price of renting, sexism, science fiction, activism, everything... but it's never overbearing or humourless and the lyrics and vocals force you to listen to it rather than just have it on. Musically it's lo fi synthy disco, horns and Pulp Fiction guitars, home made rhythms, reggae and post punk. In some ways Bastard Music makes no sense and in others it makes more sense than any other album released in 2019. It's an amazing record in lots of ways not least in the the song Meatraffle On The Moon, one of the very best things I've heard this year- a song that really should be up at the top of the singles list with Silver Apples and Pines In The Sun- a dub pop exploration of human workers enslaved and working on the moon, their comradeship and valiant attempts to survive with only the meatraffle to look forward to. Semi- stoned drums, a snaking horn, dub bass and the ace vocals.
Moon Duo Stars Are The Light
My favourite guitar/synth/drums psych- rock explorers put out their latest album in September, Stars Are The Light, and have found a new love of disco and dance music and ecstatic grooves. It's still clearly the work of the band who made the darker, heavier Occult Architecture albums but now with their faces turned to the sun. The synths and drums dance around, the rhythms are aimed at the feet and lighter than before and the twin vocals are airy and optimistic. Their live show in October was an immersive psychedelic experience. I don't think there's an album I've bought this year that I've listened to more than this one.
Steve Cobby Sweet Jesus
One man cottage industry from Hull, Steve Cobby dropped Sweet Jesus onto the internet live back in the summer, twelve songs recorded in his shed, taking in cool Balearic vibes, lush instrumentals, downtempo funk and synths and lots of acoustic guitars. The opening song, As Good As Gold, inspired by Led Zep's third album acoustic guitar picking folkiness in mid- Wales with added mellotron, has been one of my favourite tunes of 2019 and one that I keep going back to. There's something about it that really hits the spot in a way I can't quite put my finger on.
Rich Ruth Calming Signals
This album from Nashville resident Rich Ruth is often described as ambient but it's not ambient in the rain- falling- while- lying- in- bed- with- the- volume- slightly- too- low Brian Eno sense. It's an instrumental album, nine songs that take in minimalism, repetition and drones, a beautiful soaring, squawking saxophone, built around synths and guitars. On first listen you're never quite sure where it's going to go next and in places it is utterly gorgeous.
Richard Fearless Deep Rave Memory
This only came out recently so I'm still getting to know it but it is a perfectly paced and sequenced, intricately constructed techno journey. Completely absorbing and in places edge- of- your- seat tense, taut techno but with some beautiful melodic passages and some pulsing, calming tracks too.
Underworld Drift Series 1 Sampler
I've mentioned this project and album twice recently so don't intend to say much else. The best Underworld album for ages. Try this one...
These eighteen too, roughly in the order that they're listed in below. A bumper year for the long player round here.
L'epee Diabolique Steve Mason About The Light A Man Called Adam Farmarama Bob Mould Sunshine Rock Private Mountain Blue Mountain Mark Peters Ambient Innerland Stiletti Ana Ab Ovo WH Lung Incidental Music Rude Audio Street Light Interference Kungens Män Chef Acid Arab Jdid Solange When I Get Home Plaid Polymers Rose City Band Rose City Band Jane Weaver Loops In The Secret Society Joe Morris Exotic Language Lana del Rey Norman Fucking Rockwell Mythologen Antisocial Background Music 2017- 2019
Ambient music from Nashville, not the kind of music you necessarily expect to find coming from Nashville, which makes this even more of an unexpected treat. Rich Ruth composes his music at home, minimalist and repetitive, improvisational, drones and synths, beautiful melodies riding over the top. While recording the album he was held at gunpoint outside his house and carjacked and when he went back to finish the record found that he was pouring his trauma and emotions into the songs. What was deeply unpleasant for Rich has resulted in an exceptional album, out shortly physically and already available digitally at Bandcamp. In places Calming Signals is quite unsettling, dissonant and discordant. In others its more soothing and chilled. The track below, Coming Down, a lush, building piece really starts to soar when the ecstatic saxophone floats around over the top.
