Peter Jones asked about French band Mils. (it seems the period after the
"s" is part of their name), based on this catalog description:
---snip---
"really really good electronica music in the same vein as Plaid or
Autechre without being a copy of these two. Original and crisp
sounding,
with sharp melodies. "
---snip---
I don't know about the Plaid and Autechre comparisons (though I don't
think that I would make those exact comparisons myself)...and I'm no idm
purist, but this is one of my absolute favorite releases of late. I
picked up my copy from Rough Trade during a very recent trip to London,
and it has likely already made my "best of 99" list. It's downtempo on
the whole, but quite varied and interesting. I have a very difficult
time describing releases, but there are plenty of organic elements (and
more than a whiff of jazz instrumentation/structures at times) mixed in
with Mils.' electronica, so they sometimes remind me of bands that get
lumped in with the post-rock/electronica hybrid school--like Fourtet or
"Eph"-era Fridge...but Boards of Canada definitely crossed my mind more
than once, too. This, by the way, is the second full-length from Mils.
in the space of a year. The first lp, which is self-titled and also
worthy, is out on Groovy Moogy (the label that put out a split single of
Stereolab and the phenomenal French orch-pop band, Fugu back in '97).
The latest LP, "Sept Masses Deplacees" is actually on Gooom Disques, the
label that Groovy Moogy has apparently morphed into...
I'm curious--what catalog did the Mils. entry come from?
By the way, I was glad to see Lance recently mention the latest Gimmik
12" ""Random Access" on Worm Interface) as "shaking his cage" lately. I
love Gimmik's frantically playful brand of electronica. I was extremely
disappointed that I had missed out on the first Gimmik EP, put out by
Worm Interface-affiliated, vinyl-only label Toytronic. A friend in the
UK had made me a tape of it, but I couldn't lay my hands on the vinyl,
because apparently the initial pressing sold out in a few weeks last
spring. But, lo and behond, Toytronic has repressed the EP, so I was
able to pick up a copy in Berwick Street earlier this month. I also
picked up the other Toytronic releases--a 10" by Num Num and
"Signalflow," a Various Artists 12" EP. Good stuff, on the whole.
Toytronic has a website at
http://matrix.crosswinds.net/~toytronic/
Sadly, no sound samples yet, though.
Ta,
Nancy
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org