MWVM

Michael Walton is an electronic musician based in County Durham in the UK. He officially started mwvm in the fall of 2005, but he’s been experimenting with delay pedals & recording techniques since 1996. He has spent the last few years refining his sound, focusing on guitar manipulation, repetition, & ambience. His minimal creations are produced in a self-induced solitary environment; but within this isolation, he found that his music could capture the interests of a larger audience both nationally & internationally.

http://www.silbermedia.com/mwvm/

http://soundcloud.com/mwvm

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1. Pink Floyd - Interstellar Overdrive

Probably the reason I picked up a Telecaster in the first place. First time I heard the guitar played in an unusual way. I still love the Binson Echorec feeding back - Syd played it like an instrument in its own right. I realised I didn't need lyrics to enjoy music. Not my favourite Pink Floyd song but a big influence. All their early stuff was.

2. Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene Part 1

It still sounds like music that belongs in outerspace - even now. Our Ian (my brother) was the biggest influence introducing the electronic stuff. I love the EHX small stone on the strings but equally I also love the emotional dynamics of the song.

3. Neu - Hallogallo

My head nods instantly as soon as the rhythm kicks in. Classic krautrock. The minimal bass line, hypnotic drums and repetition. This is instant good feeling record.

4. Gong - Flying Teapot

Daevid Allen was the glissando guitar king in my opinion. It had a huge impact on me in using a slide to get a violin/cello effect. A good friend from work introduced me to Gong and the Canterbury scene. I think the majority of their stuff is a bit rubbish ...but you know - the glissando guitar spaced out stuff is sublime. I get instant gratification using this slide technique. The song is only 1/5th glissando but it also has great riffs and a hypnotic vibe.

5. Soft Machine - Out-Bloody-Rageous

The tape loops at the beginning of this song are immense. You could knock this type of thing up on computers in seconds these days days. Though back in the day they cut tape, slowed it down, played it backwards and sped it up. A lovely collage. Big influence on me. Primarily Soft Machine had a jazz influence. Lots of solos etc... but I do love their spacer riffer stuff... very nice.

6. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Storm

I like all the gybe songs. This one in particular gives me tremendous pleasure. It has all the peaks and troughs dynamically and emotionally. I could run through a brick wall after listening to this record. They have a shephard tone thing going on with their ascending charge. But equally I love the harmonic strings and quieter parts. Not a dull moment in this song. Perfection.

7. Stars of the Lid - Requiem For Dying Mothers part 1

No one can argue the fact that Adam Wiltzie produces fantastic drones/ambient records. This has everything. It is how I want an ambient record sound. The tone/timbre of the swells, the plucks, the repetition. It is a perfect song. His other music - Dead Texan and A Winged Victory For the Sullen are also tremendous works of art. The guy is a ridiculously talented musician.

Northern Valentine

Northern Valentine is a Philadelphia based ambient/drone collective anchored by husband & wife, Robert & Amy Brown. Coaxing sounds from electric & acoustic sources, they weave meditative drones & soundscapes with “barely there” post-rock instrumentation to create a tapestry that Phil McMullen (Terrascope Online) refers to as “minimalist ambiance at its best. Heartfelt, soulful & affecting, like gazing into a scrapbook of memories”. The music they create is largely improvisational & is often performed along with films or visuals that the collective has created.

northernvalentine.com

www.facebook.com/northernvalentine

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1. Aphex Twin - #3 ("Rhubarb")

This is an immediate trip to the most serene parts of my mind.

It challenged what I thought music could be and opened me to discovering so many new sounds.

2. Windy & Carl - Sunrise

I spent many nights and days falling asleep, waking up and drifting along to this album, and this song in particular.

Windy's hypnotic bass line slips in perfectly behind layers of Carl's guitar, and you just float for 8 minutes and 33 seconds.

3. Landing - Solstice

With this song, Landing captured a perfect moment in time...and I get lost in the bass line.

The song is a layered balance of order and energy that swells and then disappears, leaving me wanting it to hear more.

4. MONO - Sabbath

I have always admired how much emotion MONO carry in their music. My wife, Amy, walked down the aisle to this song at our wedding. It always reminds me of why I love being with her and making music together.

5. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Moya

I once watched several strangers begin to openly cry and hug each other, as a number of them were hearing Godspeed You! Black Emperor live for the first time. 17 years later, the movements of this song still give me goosebumps and it makes me want to never stop playing music.

6. Magnog - More Weather

Magnog were not around long enough. I often find parts of this song playing in my head and it sparks me to sit down and just create music in the moment. This song sounds so intentional that it crushes me every time I hear it, and recall that it was improvised.

7. Surface of Eceon - The Open Sea

When you have members of Yume Bitsu and Landing making music in the same space, you get this amazing gem. With the gradual build-up of this song, it always makes me feel like performing live.

If Thousands

Minnesota's If Thousands began as an experimental music project in April 2000 by Christian McShane (a classically trained vocalist and guitarist) and Aaron Molina (a punk-rock bassist). Neither have had any formal training in the instruments they play in If Thousands. In this way, new soundscapes can be found through a naíve approach to instrumentation. The nature of the project is to continually seek new methods of musical expression through experimentation in order to create outstanding drone oriented music. This playlist has been compiled by Christian McShane.

ifthousands.net

ifthousands.bandcamp.com

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1. Einsturzende Neubauten - Keine Shoenheit Uhne Gefahr (1987)

First heard this song in 1991. Completely blown away by it's simplicity and intensity. The basic structure is only two notes, but man... what they do with them.

2. Dead Can Dance - Song of Sophia & The Host of Seraphim (1987)

Lisa Gerrard's voice is an otherwordly treasure. If these songs don't hit you in some way, there's something seriously wrong with you.

3. Yes - And You And I (1972)

Not the entire song, just the wonderful mellotron sections. The first one begins around 3:47.

4. Krzysztof Penderecki - Threnody to the victims of Hiroshima (1960)

No electronics. Only orchestra. Incredible. This is a hard piece of music to comprehend. With appropriate visuals, tearful.

5. Godspeed You Black Emporer - The Dead Flag Blues (1998)

Aaron discovered GYBE when we were about to record our first album. When I heard this song, I thought, "Holy shit - someone beat us to it and did a better job than we'll ever do. Crap."

6. Wolfgang Press - I Am The Crime (1986)

Old Wolfgang Press albums, especially Standing up Straight and Bird Wood Cage, have always been an inspiration. if thousands has always been about how the music makes you feel when you listen to it. If I was on a deserted island and had only a couple albums to listen to, WGP would be one of them.

7. Slint - Good Morning, Captain (1991)

After 23 years, this song still kills me.