Oliver Arditi

Blog archive

  • Regal Worm – Use and Ornament (avant-prog)

    Regal Worm – Use and Ornament (avant-prog)

    ‘Detail’ seems to be the watchword by which this album was conceived and constructed; I hesitate to say that it’s all about the arrangements, as it’s clearly about much more, but a conspicuously enormous amount of effort has gone into them. Ideas abound in every area, in an album which is clearly a paean to… Read more

  • Paragaté – Pattern Of Light (experimental)

    Paragaté – Pattern Of Light (experimental)

    Paragaté is a fluid ensemble; its two permanent members are Tim Risher and Tom De Plonty, both of whose names may be familiar to you from the reviews I have written over the past few years, but the ensemble has a number of other creators associated with it, and a history measured in decades. Earlier… Read more

  • Various Artists – Singles and EPs

    Various Artists – Singles and EPs

    Kibou Records is everything I talk about but don’t actually do. It’s a totally independent, DIY music label and online distributor, dedicated to uncompromising underground music, of the noisy punk variety. It’s basically the Revolution, as described by French anarchists The Invisible Committee, a parallel structure that is a challenge to the status quo simply… Read more

  • Abstractive Noise – of the Adder’s Bite (post-ambient)

    Abstractive Noise – of the Adder’s Bite (post-ambient)

    Woman as symbol figures prominently in the conceptual scaffolding of this album; this is something about which I have certain reservations. ‘Woman’ has been employed as a metaphor for many things in the creative languages of men: the imaginative faculty, the creative spirit, material aspiration, fields of endeavour, country or native soil… the list goes… Read more

  • Matt Stevens – Lucid (avant-rock)

    Matt Stevens – Lucid (avant-rock)

    Matt Stevens has a particular approach as a solo performer; he gigs on his own, with an acoustic guitar, and he plays instrumental music. He’s a great player, but he doesn’t tackle the challenge of solo performance by throwing a heap of complex technique at the problem; instead, he uses live looping technology to accompany… Read more

  • Various Artists – Album Roundup

    Various Artists – Album Roundup

    In the best tradition of underground music, it’s not entirely clear what Milktoast Music is; probably not a label in the traditional sense. More likely a collective of closely related musical projects, I would imagine. This album includes tracks from four of the six acts listed on their website, with those by Richard Pickman in… Read more