Phirnis

Kai Ginkel from Darmstadt, Germany is recording under the Phirnis moniker, producing what was recently tagged as “enigmatic and evolving washes of sound”. His latest work is called Apnoea which has been just released by Fwonk netlabel.

http://phirnis.de/

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1. The Beach Boys - Friends

The whole Friends album is a treasure trove of unorthodox ideas, yet at at the same time everything about it feels incredibly bright and peaceful. There really is no other music quite like this.

2. Alice Coltrane - Los Caballos

This track is based on a riff totally worth obsessing over. To me, the Eternity LP always seemed to exist in a world of its own and I think there's something magical even about its cover art.

3. Mark Kozelek & Jimmy Lavalle - Gustavo

Kozelek's work has been consistently great and inspirational over the years and I find this particular song to be every bit as touching as it is thoroughly grumpy.
4. J.S. Bach - Contrapunctus IV

One of my very favourite Bach compositions and I just love the somewhat controversial sound of Gould's unfinished organ recordings of The Art of the Fugue.

5. Incapacitants - Track 3

There's a video circulating where you can see these guys perform outside in the Fukushima mountains sometime in the early 90s. Beautiful stuff. They're pretty much the ultimate Noise act as far as I'm concerned.

6. Kyuss - One Inch Man

I grew up on Kyuss and rediscovered their records as soon as I got old enough in order to feel nostalgic about the music of my youth. It's fascinating how they got such a huge and heavy sound out of such sparse arrangements.

7. M.B. + E.D.A. - Universal Order

Bianchi teamed up with Emanuela De Angelis for this unique effort. This is some of my favourite drone or loop music around, bordering on actual static but still driven by a somewhat peculiar sense of rhythm.

Lorna

Lorna is a 7-piece band from Nottingham. They have been together over 10 years, have released many albums and have played in the UK, Europe and the US. Musically they mix dreampop guitars, brushed drums, loops and samples with clarinet, flute and strings. Lorna have toured with and shared the bill with acts such as The Lemonhead, The Psychedelic Furs, Six By Seven, Mark Gardener (Ride), American Analog Set and Midlake. This playlist has been compiled by their vocalist and guitarist Mark Rolfe.

lornatheband.com/

www.facebook.com/pages/LornaUK/11233842989

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1. Teenage Fanclub - Alcoholiday

I was a little too young to appreciate Bandwagonesque but when Thirteen came out I started to show an interest in TFC. I went to see them on the thirteen tour and I was blown away with the honesty, frankness and power of their music. I really think of this song as my first love who never left me.

2. Neil Young - Out on the weekend

This is the first Neil song I heard, it was around 4 in the morning and I was 18. It was in the back of a friends car. It sounded so desolate, lonely and sad. I fell for Neil straight away. His attitude to production, performance, art and artistry influenced me heavily, he still does.

3. Sebadoh - Soul and Fire

Lou Barlow is a genius of our time and it worries me he will never be appreciated as one. This song is perfect. Lou is a monster of a songwriter, he can terrifying, exciting and profoundly beautiful in the same song.

4. Aphex Twin - Flim

I got to electronica a little later than others in my early 20s. I remember this song being the first electronic piece of music that had a huge emotional impact on me, in the same way Neil Young could have. It opened up a lot more ideas and ways of thinking about electronic music for me. There is a sophistication to this song which kind of reminds me of Eric Satie, there is also something very twisted and unsettling about it. It's emotive and honest.

5. The American Analog Set - The kindness of strangers

Our good friends Coastal put us in touch with them and we opened for them a few times. Their music was one of the most important discoveries for me as introduced me to groove based music. The production on the Known by heart album is a masterpiece. Everytime we would play with I would quiz them about their recording techniques, mic placement, sonics, acoustics etc., in terms of sound design and production Andrew Kenny is a master. I think the AAS is one of the influences I wear on my sleeve, it's hard to shake.

6. The Beach Boys - 'Til I die

I think there comes a time in everyone's 20s when we start to look to the past for new music, not the future. In the late 90s I went through a huge Brian Wilson phase, reading the books, scouring record fairs for smile demos.. At the time Brian was still a recluse, every little bit of information I could get was valued, who was this strange man and why did he go to bed for so long? Nowadays Brian is healthy and touring again, I always feel so fortunate to see him play. We should never take Brian for granted.

7. Should - Turned Tables

I wanted to end on a piece of modern music. This reminds of what I fell in love with when I first fell in love with pop music. The song is sonically perfect, it's so simple and understated. I could listen to this all day.