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monkeyandelf · 7 years

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2017 End-of-Year Edition / In Depth // Drowned In Sound

Articulate Silences, Ambient Sounds is back. It’s a whole year since the last edition of this column, for which I can only apologise. I’ve been writing about music for around a decade now, usually for little or no monetary reward, and 2017 was the year in which I briefly gave up (almost unconsciously) in the midst of other stresses and strains. Leaving the mind-numbing time and energy black hole that is London in favour of the best city in the UK beginning with the letter “L” (that’s Leeds, obviously; sorry Leicester and Liverpool, I love you both too) in August was a turning point, providing me with a renewed enthusiasm for listening to – and writing about – new music. I fully intend the column to get back to being (semi-) regular again from this point on. If you make or release records that might be suitable for inclusion then email me at [email protected]. I simply do not have time to reply to all my emails, but if you send me something clearly labelled as being for this column I will listen to it and – if I like it – I will write about it. You can also get in touch with me on Twitter, which I check more regularly, at @benjamin__bland. For now, have a round-up of some of this year’s highlights. This is nowhere near definitive, but it’s an insight into my favourite ambient releases from the last twelve months or so. I hope it provides you with some suitably contemplative listening material as 2017 bleeds into 2018. See you on the other side.

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If I had to identify an ambient MVP of 2017 then it would – undoubtedly – have to be the folks at Eilean Records. Eilean has been going for four years now, and almost everything they release is extremely high quality (both musically and in terms of the presentation). 2017 might have been Eilean’s best year yet: sixteen releases, sixteen gems. Listen to them all. The newer releases have not received enough listens from me yet to identify which are my favourites, so I’ll make my life a little easier for now by highlighting the label’s first four releases of 2017. The first of those, Daniel W. J. Mackenzie’s Every Time Feels Like The Last Time, is a work of haunting modern composition, which culminates in the particularly heavenly ‘Smokey Quartz and Our Skin’.

Every Time Feels Like the Last Time by Daniel W J Mackenzie

Equally haunting, like a half-remembered dream brought back to life through stuttering tape recordings, is On The Brink, a collaboration between Josh Mason & Nathan McLaughlin, two masters of texture who both deserve to be far better known than they are.

On The Brink by Josh Mason & Nathan McLaughlin

Old Articulate Silences favourite Monolyth & Cobalt (aka. Matthias van Eecloo, who also runs Eilean) is bowing out (from this project at least) with the brilliant The Dunen Diaries. This is effectively a two-part release, with the second half being a selection of collaborations that build perfectly upon the beautifully elegiac foundations of the record’s first half. Essential.

The Dunen Diaries by Monolyth & Cobalt

9T Antiope’s Isthmus has been something of a revelation for me. This Iranian duo – composed of Nima Aghiani and Sara Bigdeli Shamloo – arrive with a sound that’s somewhere between Grouper’s hazy atmospherics and Jenny Hval’s deliciously unhinged feminist agitprop. The swooping violin loops of closer ‘Telophase’ – which might also tide over those who, like me, spend most of their lives waiting for a new Portishead LP – bring the record to a genuinely soul-stirring conclusion.

Isthmus by 9T Antiope

As long-term column readers will know, two of the most consistent ambient musicians operating today are also from Iran: Siavash Amini and Porya Hatami. Siavash’s latest release, TAR (Hallow Ground) is a storming follow-up to 2015’s Subsiding, which – if you missed it – is one of the best releases of the last decade or so. This new effort is pretty much on a par, reaching a coruscating high point on colossal second track ‘Rivers of Tar’.

SIAVASH AMINI – TAR by Siavash Amini

Porya’s new album, Monads (LINE), might be his most hypnotic effort to date, despite seeing him leave behind his previous focus on melodic ambient composition in favour of a work fitting the microsound focus of the LINE imprint. I’m often fairly ambivalent about work that fits in this category – “ambient glitch” for want of a better term – but this definitely resides in the upper tier of the style.

Monads by PORYA HATAMI

Sarah Davachi’s All My Circles Run (Students of Decay) might just be my favourite LP – of any genre – released in 2017. This is a step in a new direction from Davachi, who has previously impressed largely through her mastery of analogue synths. Here the attention is on electroacoustic composition, but the result is still recognisably Davachi’s. There’s a tonal warmth here that is unmistakably reminiscent of last year’s brilliant Vergers whilst still offering new textures.

All My Circles Run by Sarah Davachi

All My Circles Run’s focus on acoustically-generated sounds rather than on synths may mark something of a departure for Davachi, but thankfully there have been plenty of other places to get a dose of analogue goodness in the last twelve months. In fact, one need look no further than the debut full-length from Téléplasmiste, the duo of Strange Attractor Press head Mark O. Pilkington and Coil/Cyclobe collaborator Michael J. York. Frequency Is The New Ecstasy (House of Mythology) is a truly delightful synth-fuelled trip to a higher plain.

Frequency is the New Ecstasy by Teleplasmiste

The late-arriving trump card, in terms of synth-tastic outings, however, turned out to be Gardener’s sublime A Place Where Nothing Was, the first release from sometime Gnod member Alex Macarte’s new Golden Ratio Frequencies cassette label. An utterly captivating mix of synths with tape loops and field recordings from former Make Noise Synthesizers employee Dashiell Lewis, this certainly marks out Golden Ratio Frequencies as a label to follow closely in 2018, and Lewis one to look out for in the future.

A Place Where Nothing Was by Gardener

Another unmissable late release, Timo Kaukolampi’s I (SVART) is – at least in part – a tribute to former Pan Sonic/Ø legend Mika Vainio, who – as I’m sure most readers will know – sadly died earlier this year. This is a really remarkable first release, with Kaukolampi establishing himself as a gifted creator of widescreen spectral soundscapes. It’s a shame it turned up so close to the end of the year, thus running the risk of slipping through the net.

1 by Kaukolampi

Paris-based Japanese sound artist Tomoko Sauvage has been working with water for a decade now, exploring its sonic properties through the use of hydrophones, which transform the water’s various ripples and drops into music. Musique Hydromantique (Shelter Press) does feel genuinely musical, with Sauvage exploring her subject’s responses in various acoustic environments, each of which generates beautiful minimal soundscapes.

Musique Hydromantique by Tomoko Sauvage

Mary Lattimore, of course, works not with water but with the harp. In some ways, however, the effect is much the same. Lattimore’s is adept at creating pieces that manage to transcend their minimalist focus on a sound source, blossoming into captivatingly evocative multi-level compositions. Collected Pieces is technically a compilation of offcuts from recent years, but that certainly doesn’t make it uneven. In fact, for those unfamiliar, this is an essential introduction to an essential contemporary artist.

Collected Pieces by Mary Lattimore

Leyland Kirby’s The Caretaker project is winding towards its conclusion, and 2017 saw the release of the second and third stages of the mammoth closing statement, Everywhere At The End Of Time. Kirby’s sonic exploration of the progress of dementia, Everywhere At The End Of Time is already a work of enormous significance, only set to become more and more heartbreakingly effective in 2018. You can subscribe to the work for a mere five pounds via Kirby’s own History Always Favours the Winners imprint on Bandcamp.

Everywhere at the end of time by The Caretaker

Followers of Kirby may also have noticed that he slipped something else out this year, the astonishing (free!) gift that is We, So Tired Of All the Darkness In Our Lives. The title sums it up.

We, so tired of all the darkness in our lives by Leyland Kirby

For a more comprehensive (seventy-five track) round-up, including bigger names – not least the predictably fantastic new records from 12k guru Taylor Deupree and from Wolfgang Voigt’s GAS – I’ve created a (ten and a half hour!) Spotify playlist of other highlights from the year. I hope it leads you to many more discoveries.

I must, alas, finish the column on a sombre note. Not only did we lose the legendary Mika Vainio this year, but we must also recognise the passing of the enormously talented young Swedish composer Marcus Fjellström, who sadly died in September, just a few months after the release of his last record, Skelektikon. RIP Marcus and Mika. You will both be missed.

Skelektikon by Marcus Fjellström

Onko by Mika Vainio

Articulate Silences, Ambient Sounds will return in 2018.

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emilysworldoffandoms · 1 year

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Books I Read in 2022

1. Beast Boy Loves Raven By Kami Garcia & Gabriel Picolo 2. Dear Girl By Aija Mayrock 3. A Fire Like You By Upile Chisala 4. Nectar By Upile Chisala 5. Soft Magic By Upile Chisala 6. As If On Cue By Marisa Kanter 7. Heartstopper Volume 4 By Alice Oseman 8. Address Unknown By Katherine Kressmann Taylor 9. Ariel By Sylvia Plath 10. Heart Talk By Cleo Wade 11. At Somerton: Cinders & Sapphires By Leila Rasheed 12. At Somerton: Diamonds & Deceit By Leila Rasheed 13. Unlock Your Storybook Heart By Amanda Lovelace 14. Instructions for Dancing By Nicola Yoon 15. Martita, I Remember You By Sandra Cisneros 16. Brown Girls By Daphne Palasi Andreades 17. Here's to Us By Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera 18. Counting by 7s By Holly Goldberg Sloan 19. The Summer I Turned Pretty By Jenny Han 20. It's Not Summer Without You By Jenny Han 21. We'll Always Have Summer By Jenny Han 22. Everything I Need to Know I Learned From Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood By Melissa Wagner & Fred Rogers 23. Gained a Daughter But Nearly Lost My Mind: How I Planned a Backyard Wedding During a Pandemic By Marlene Kern Fischer 24. At Somerton: Emeralds & Ashes By Leila Rasheed 25. Café Con Lychee By Emery Lee 26. The Book Tour By Andi Watson 27. God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian By Kurt Vonnegut 28. Yoga Pant Nation By Laurie Gelman 29. Mr. Malcolm's List By Suzanne Allain 30. Miss Lattimore's Letter By Suzanne Allain 31. The Road Between By Courtney Peppernell 32. Enough Rope By Dorothy Parker 33. My Favorite Half-Night Stand By Christina Lauren 34. Smells Like Tween Spirit By Laurie Gelman 35. How to Be a Wallflower By Eloisa James 36. Be Like the Moon By Levi Welton 37. Morality for Muggles: Ethics in the Bible and the World of Harry Potter By Moshe Rosenberg 38. 84, Charing Cross Road By Helene Hanff 39. Josh & Hazel's Guide to Not Dating By Christina Lauren 40. The Matchmaker By Thornton Wilder 41. The Cheat Sheet By Sarah Adams 42. All-of-a-Kind Family By Sydney Taylor (Re-read) 43. Shadow Angel Book One By Leia Stone & Julie Hall 44. Spooky America: The Ghostly Tales of Sleepy Hollow By Jessa Dean 45. Needle & Thread By David Pinckney, Ennun Ana Iurov, Micah Myers 46. Good Game, Well Played By Rachael Smith, Katherine Lobo, Justin Birch 47. Home Sick Pilots By Dan Walters & Caspar Wijngaard 48. Beyond the Wand: The Magic & Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard By Tom Felton 49. Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow and the Hudson Valley By Jonathan Kruk 50. Heartless Prince By Leigh Dragoon 51. A Contract with God By Will Eisner 52. Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American By Laura Gao 53. Blackwater By Jeannette Arroyo and Ren Graham 54. Woman World By Aminder Dhaliwal 55. In Real Life By Cory Doctorow & Jen Wang 56. Lore Olympus Volume 1 By Rachel Smythe 57. Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword By Barry Deutsch 58. Persuasion By Jane Austen 59. Devil in Disguise By Lisa Kleypas 60. Shadow Angel Book Two By Leia Stone & Julie Hall 61. Lore Olympus Volume 2 By Rachel Smythe 62. Talk to My Back By Yamada Murasaki 63. How I Saved Hanukkah By Amy Goldman Koss 64. Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet By Barbara Dee 65. Shadow Angel Book Three By Leia Stone & Julie Hall 66. The Matzah Ball By Jean Meltzer 67. Canción By Eduardo Halfon 68. Leopoldstadt By Tom Stoppard 69. Say Yes to the Duke By Eloisa James 70. Winter Roses after Fall By Robert M. Drake & r.h. Sin 71. Roomies By Christina Lauren 72. Falling Toward the Moon By Robert M. Darake & r.h. Sin 73. Empty Bottles Full of Stories By Robert M. Drake & r.h. Sin

#blogger #fandoms #fangirl #books #novels #poetry #romance #graphic novels

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junker-town · 7 years

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Why Rob Gronkowski got suspended for his cheap shot hit on Tre'Davious White

Gronk rightfully got a one-game suspension after this.

No surprise here, but Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski heard from the league office this week after this play against the Buffalo Bills. He’s been suspended for one game.

“Your actions were not incidental, could have been avoided and placed the opposing player at serious risk of injury,” NFL VP of Football Operations said in a letter to Gronkowski.

“The Competition Committee has clearly expressed it’s goal of ‘eliminating flagrant hits that have no place in our game.’ Those hits include the play you were involved in yesterday.”

Given the line the league has drawn over other, similar infractions, putting Gronk on the shelf for a week was at least consistent. Gronk appealed his suspension, but on Tuesday afternoon, the league denied his appeal. He’ll be out Monday night against the Dolphins.

White will be back on the field when the Bills face the Colts this week. He cleared the concussion protocol on Thursday. He said that Gronkowski’s shot was dirty.

“He could have broken my neck,” White said. “I’ve got a son to raise. People don’t think about that when they react.”

In case you missed it, here’s how it all went down.

Tre’Davious White intercepted a Tom Brady pass while covering Gronkowski. After the play, Gronkowski came in late, and dropped an elbow on White:

It looks pretty bad from that angle. He should have been ejected, FOX analyst and the NFL’s former VP for officiating, Dean Blandino, said after the game. He wouldn’t rule out a suspension either.

The NFL reviewed the hit this week and agreed with Blandino.

White would be walked to the locker room to be evaluated for a head injury after the hit. The team confirmed after the game that White has a concussion because of the hit.

Four penalties were assessed on the play:

Unnecessary roughness against Gronkowski

Unnecessary roughness on Bills S Micah Hyde

Unnecessary roughness against Patriots WR Danny Amendola

Unsportsmanlike conduct on Bills DE Jerry Hughes

The Patriots were up 23-3 at the time, with less than five minutes to go in the game when the cheap shot happened. Gronk ended up with three penalties in the second half.

The Bills weren’t happy with the hit after the game.

After the game, Bills coach Sean McDermott voiced his displeasure for the hit:

McDermott on Gronk late hit on White: “I don’t think there’s any place in the game for that. It’s unfortunate.” Adds Gronk is better player than that. #NEvsBUF

— Kimberly Jones (@KimJonesSports) December 3, 2017

White was a first-round, No. 27 overall selection by the Bills in the 2017 NFL draft out of LSU — and he’s held his own.

“I can’t recall a rookie being asked to do some of the things we’ve asked him to do this season,” Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said earlier this week. “As you know, we’ve had to match him up on some top receivers during the course of the season and you don’t usually ask a rookie to do that.”

White’s injury is the second major one for the Bills Sunday afternoon, after losing quarteback Tyrod Taylor to an injured knee.

Gronkowski apologized immediately after the game.

After the game, Gronk apologized for the hit in the locker room.

Gronk apologizes to #Bills rookie @TreWhite16 & criticizes officiating: http://pic.twitter.com/RI6xpJrdqy

— Jonah Javad (@JonahJavad) December 3, 2017

"Just wanna apologize to Tre'Davious White. I don't really believe in type of shots like that," Gronk said after the game.

"I mean, I feel like he was trying to push me a little bit and made the play," Gronkowski continued. "I just don't understand why there wasn't a flag. A couple times in the game. They are calling me for the craziest, craziest stuff ever and it's just like, crazy. I mean, like what am I supposed to do? And then they don't call that, I mean. It was just frustration and that's what happened,” Gronk said.

White was doing plenty of clutching and grabbing on him before the pick, but that won’t justify his action if the league decides to hand out additional punishment for the incident.

Bill Belichick deferred when asked about it by the media, but apologized to Sean McDermott.

Bill Belichick was asked about it after the game. “I didn't really see what happened. That was something the officials handled today and not something we really had any control over,” Belichick said.

He apologized to Bills coach Sean McDermott after the game. Cameras even caught him telling the Bills coach that Gronk’s hit was “bullshit.”

As for the Bills, they didn’t hold back when asked about it.

Safety Micah Hyde called it a “dirty play” and no apology was going to cover up that fact.

“I know he (Gronkowski) is a better player than that,” McDermott added after the game.

Bills safety Jordan Poyer said that "there’s not any room in the league for that type of crap” and added that anyone else would have been ejected for that.

Poyer was also asked if this might come up the next time the Bills see Gronk and the Patriots. “Of course. Yeah. For sure. Yes.”

The NFL wasn’t happy about it either.

There is not a standardized rule for what gets a player suspended. If Gronk had been ejected, it would have lessened the likelihood of a suspension, as the NFL usually lets an ejection stand in place of a suspension for players without an established precedent for that kind of play.

The NFL suspended Bucs receiver Mike Evans for one game earlier this season for shoving Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore from behind in the wake of a sideline dustup, which is why it’s not a surprise Gronk will be missing a game for this incident.

As for the Bills, they’ll probably have something more to say when the two teams play again in Week 16.

The top stories from Sunday's NFL action

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