The Type Records Appreciation Post

I absolutely adore Type Records. John Twells and Stef Lewandowski have an incredible track record and easily the highest quality collection of artists/albums I have seen on any label. It's rare that there is a bad release from this label and is the main reason I keep buying their records. Here are a few of my favourites from this outstanding label. Click on the album title for the download link.

Goldmund - Cordurouy Road

"As Goldmund, Kenniff has disregarded the electronic elements of his music almost entirely in favour of just a piano, a microphone and occasionally a guitar. ‘Corduroy Road’ is thirteen tracks of pure recording, the sound of the piano being opened and the feet on the pedals, the sound of fingers pressing lovingly onto the keys. This is a record of rare and unusual beauty, so shocking and yet unpretentious in its simplicity. When the guitar does emerge from beside the delicately touched piano, it serves as a balancing point for the record. Weaving in and out of the melodies, it adds another layer to what is already incredibly moving music."

Sylvain Chauveau - Nuage

"With a hand-picked group of players on piano, viola, violin and with Sylvain himself on electric guitar the music roots itself in the traditions of great film scoring. There are defnite nods to Krzysztof Kieslowski’s composer Zbigniew Preisner in the deep sense of emotion and melancholy, and Chauveau strips his pieces down to the bare minimum of what might be needed, ridding himself of orchestral excess or meaningless sentimentality. Thus short motifs rise and fall, tangling their way through the album, appearing and re-appearing subtly and beautifully."

Xela - The Dead Sea

"‘The Dead Sea’ is Xela’s ode to all things maritime – with the album’s thematic thread detailing a doomed ocean voyage that meets an abrupt end amongst a swarm of malignant zombies. Drawing on the work of 1970’s horror directors (Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and George Romero et al.) and their respective soundtracks, ‘The Dead Sea’ pays a considerable debt to the likes of Goblin or Fabio Frizzi – albeit frayed with a bloodied disposition that reveals a love of Earth, Circle and Wolf Eyes. Nowhere near as oppressive as this description could have you believe, Xela also exposes a deep seam of kaleidoscopic folk amongst his collection, with generous nods going to the freewheeling antics of labels such as Fonal and The Jewelled Antler Collective."

Peter Broderick - Float

"'Float’ is an album which has a definite narrative – a fan of film soundtracks and the films themselves Peter decided early on to make an album which was not simply a collection of random tracks. Rather we hear themes appear and re-appear, motifs to signal the different acts of the record and characters, sometimes in the shape of instruments themselves dropping in and out as if through some thick French cigarette smoke. Even the titles of the tracks themselves could tell a story and as you listen to the album, as subconsciously you follow the broad lines which link each piece together."

Deaf Center - Pale Ravine

"Inspired by old silent 8mm film reels, the historical architecture around them and the call of the alluring Norwegian landscape, the duo set out armed with microphones to record whatever they could to capture these feelings. Sounds from battered old records, cash registers, broken machines and a half-dead piano were all blended into the mix to add a warm, homely depth to the recordings. These sounds are most evident in the track ‘Loft’, where knocks and wooden creaks give an almost claustrophobic feel to the music. Again on ‘The Clearing’ a subtle field recording gives the track a rich and involving background and helps build up the mysterious aura before launching a skewed 1930s circus-waltz.

One of the most stand-out influences on ‘Pale Ravine’ is theatre, or at least the romance of all things theatrical. Not so much theatre in all its pretentious excesses, but the childhood apprehensiveness and the sinister undercurrents. From the muffled ticket booth ambience of ‘Lobby’ to the solemn dance of ‘White Lake’ it all appears draped in thick billowing velvet. The dense narrative technique the duo employs is almost like a reverse to a silent film and the soundtrack is provided to be accompanied by the imaginative visuals of the listener.

‘Pale Ravine’ is an album which again manages to blend elements of classical music with electronic music, yet there is something decidedly different which sets it apart from the competition. While there are elements that can be compared with contemporaries such as Max Richter, Marsen Jules or Ryan Teague – Deaf Center is altogether more other-worldly, darker and ultimately very rewarding."

Logreybeam - It's All Just Another Aspect of Mannerism

"Morley is better known as one half of electronica act ‘Yasume’. His gritty percussive structures helped carry their album ‘Where We’re From The Birds Sing A Pretty Song’ to great critical acclaim in 2003. It comes as quite a surprise then that in his debut solo record Morley dispenses with percussion almost entirely to make a record of drifting, crystalline beauty. He considers this as a far more personal work than Yasume, which was more of an outlet for his ADD induced beat creation skills. It is when working by himself he feels he can express his love of musique concrete and abstract sound design.

The album opens in typically classical style, with the sounds of a laptop orchestra tuning their samples on ‘Premonition’. This sets the tone of the record perfectly as it drifts seamlessly from Xenakis-influenced electrical drones into the cold, precise digital manipulations explored previously by artists such as Carsten Nicolai. It stops for breath mid-way through with ‘Beetelguise’, a wonderful reinterpretation of Danny Elfman’s influential theme, proving that there is room for a wry smile in the po-faced world of the avante garde.

As the album draws to a satisfying close with the mysterious ‘Untitled’ we are treated to a piece of field recording, delicately manipulated to brush the senses rather than barrage them with information. This kind of subtlety is rarely achieved, yet Gabriel Morley manages effortlessly. Such simple yet involving beauty comes around far too infrequently, which is what makes ’It’s All Just Another Aspect Of Mannerism’ such an essential work."