[Smallfish-releases-html] Smallfish Mailout 13/12/08

Sat Dec 13 14:39:20 GMT 2008

Smallfish New Logo

Hi there.

Well, the chaos of last weekend's appearance of Grit's CD on Shoreless 
certainly provided me with lots of fun and games I can tell you! Now 
it's just a case of waiting for Bvdub's release plus the new compilation 
and the label is very much back on schedule for 2009... good news indeed!

There haven't been so many releases in the last week or two, but what 
there has been really has kept me more than happy I have to say. It's a 
fairly text-heavy mailout this time, so if you do manage to get past the 
first bit and on into the actual releases, well done!

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*
Smallfish - Top Releases of 2008
*
*
*Now, I could have made this a top 50 to be perfectly honest. I've been 
spoilt for choice this year and there have been some unbelievably good 
things released in the last 12 months. Realistically I have to to pick 
the things I've listened to more than anything else so here goes (in no 
particular order, of course!):

*01] Steinbruchel - Home - Slaapwel CDr*
     [A wonderful limited edition CDr with a delightful 35 minute piece 
of organic / electronic goodness. Limited to 150 copies.]
*

02] Grit - Expanse - Shoreless Recordings CDr*
     [I'm sure I don't need to say a lot about this, do I? After the 
long wait it quickly became apparent that it's a brilliantly put 
together album of techno and electronic music.]
*

03] Bvdub - Return To Tonglu - Quietus Recordings CDr*
     [I could have picked any number of things by Bvdub from this year 
but I've settled on this as I think it's had slightly more plays than 
Dreams Of Red Chambers. Lush, expansive, intimate electronic music by 
this prolific and all round top guy. Truly blissful.]
*

04] Various - Sounds Of Slow Flow Volume 1 - Slow Flow Rec CDr*
     [The first release from Ryonkt's label. Features tracks from Celer, 
Ian Hawgood, Entia Non and Ryonkt himself. A gorgeous album of chilled 
and atmospheric electronics.]
*

05] Level - Opale - Spekk CD*
     [One of my fave artists on one of my fave labels. Opale is 
everything you could want it to be - gentle, personal sounding, warm, 
yet totally fragile. Simply a beautiful album.]
*

06] The Green Kingdom - Jasmine - Smallfish CDr*
     [Again, it's hard for me to pick out any particular Smallfish 
release, but I'm going for this as it's the most recent. Warm, friendly 
and delicate electronic music with a keen ear for melody. Beautiful.]
*

07] Rod Modell - Incense & Black Light - Plop CD*
     [A notable album for many reasons. For me it's so good because it's 
so varied. You get Rod Modell delivering icy ambience, deep, dense 
techno and a considerably more abstract feel. A superb work.]
*

08] Various - Depth Perceptions - Pronounce CDr*
     [First release on Pronounce and it really was a good one. Limited 
to 100 copies and featuring the likes of Havantepe, Grit, Quantec, 
Dubatech, Atheus and more. A very good CD indeed.]
*

09] Gas - Nah Und Fern - Kompakt 4xCD / 2xLP*
     [They've been some of my favourite albums for the last 10+ years 
and here are all 4 packaged together and lightly remastered. It's Gas... 
what more can I say? Epic.]
*

10] Hakobune - We Left The Window Open Sometimes - Pragmatism CD*
     [A low key and somewhat under the radar release from Hakobune here. 
Pragmatism is an offshoot of Symbolic Interaction and this is a 
collection of finely crafted guitar based manipulations. I love this 
guy's music.]
*

11] Celer - Honestly? Everything they've done this year including 
releases on Spekk, Infraction and and/OAR*
     [I couldn't pick a single release I'm afraid as everything they've 
produced is exquisite (in fact I'm sitting here listening to them right 
now). Utterly stunning drone-based soundscape music. Intimate, personal 
and beautiful.]
*

12] Pub - Making Trakcx Series - Ampoule CDr*
     [This entire series has kept me hooked all year. Pub is a genuine 
British musical treasure and this work is, in my humble opinion, some of 
his finest. Only 2 more to go! What am I going to do when the series is 
finished?]
*

13] DJ Olive - Triage - Room40 CD
*     [This album is straight-up a fantastic slice of ambient music. The 
way it evolves and morphs over the hour that it lasts is exemplary. This 
album's had an awful lot of play.]
*

14] Christopher Bissonette - In Between Worlds - Kranky CD
*     [Kranky releases are always worth checking out, but I had no idea 
this was going to be so amazing (even though I really liked his first 
album). Soundscapes, textures and a lovely intensity that keep this one 
firmly near the top of my list.]
*

15] Deepchord - Vantage Isle Sessions - Echospace CD*
     [Kind of goes without saying that this would be in the list I 
suppose. It's Deepchord and it featured unreleased versions that weren't 
on the double pack. I still believe this worked better on CD - although 
I'm sure that's fairly controversial.]
*

16] Lawrence English - Kiri No Oto - Touch CD*
     [A late addition for me as I only got this a few weeks ago. 
Lawrence English has put an extraordinary body of work and this is 
another in a long line of deeply impressive albums. Beautiful and 
delicate yet robust... this really is something special.]
*

17] Wouter Veldhuis - Satumaa - Waterscape CDr*
     [An even later addition to the list. I only got this a few days ago 
but it clicked with me immediately. Some of the finest textural work of 
the year on this low-key release. Luckily I'll be getting a few more 
copies soon as it sold out in a couple of hours.]

*18] Rudi Arapahoe - Echoes From One To Another - Symblic Interaction CD*
     [This album took my breath away. A varied collection of tracks than 
spans ambient / abstract electronic, Gas-like textural work and several 
more classically orientated pieces. I always knew this would be one of 
my favourites.]

*19] Sawako - Bitter Sweet - 12k CD*
     [There had to be one 12k release in here, but I was seriously torn 
between this and the Willits / Sakamoto CD. I think this one just edges 
it as I love the pure ambient nature of the work - it's surprisingly 
different to Hum and her other albums and has been a constant companion 
this year.]

*20] SB - Middlesex Filter Beds 04/08 - Unknown CDr*
     [This was never actually released (although there are rumours of it 
happening at some point in the future) but I've spent a lot of time 
listening to this series of field recordings by the mysterious SB. The 
narrative flow of the work is remarkable and manages to easily avoid 
being just another field recording album by virtue of the quality and 
natural style of the captured moments. It's a lovely work and I'll most 
definitely keep you informed should anything arise in the near future 
regarding a release.]

Can you spot a theme here at all? I think it's fairly obvious where I'm 
coming from musically right now! To be honest, there's a whole world of 
other stuff I could (and probably should) have listed but I had to nail 
it down to these few. All I can say is roll on 2009 if it's anything 
like this year music wise!
*

*
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*
B12 - B12 Records Archive Volume 2 - B12 2xCD

*I remember saying a few weeks back how much I was looking forward to 
volume two of this series and here it is! Another top quality selection 
of tracks from the B12 label it features the awesome As One / Zee / 
Future/Past EP and the equally brilliant Musicology EP. Number 3 and 4 
in the catalogue and still sounding wonderful today. I love the raw, 
unrefined tracks on the Kirk / Matt Cogger record - all ragged synth 
sounds, chaotic percussion and a depth and feel you rarely hear in 
techno these days. Musicology's tracks are pure brilliance and anything 
that kicks off with Preminition is guaranteed to be a winner. Includes 2 
bonus unreleased tracks as well so you're getting a really good 
selection. A very highly recommended release with 2 classic EPs on it. I 
don't like to use this word too often but it's essential!

*Check it out here...* 
<http://www.smallfish.co.uk/shop/release/?cat=B1212.2>

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*
Steinbruchel - Home / Sustain - Back in stock
**
*Bearing in mind how limited these releases were (150 & 100 copies 
respectively) I'm exceedingly pleased to have secured some restocks on 
them. Home is straight-up one of my favourite releases of the year with 
its delicate, beautifully realised manipulations and Sustain - well, as 
I think I described it at the time, it's almost like an extended version 
of something from Basis on Room40. Really quite a marvellous pair of CDs 
and well worth snapping up if you missed them before as I certainly 
won't be getting any more copies.
** 
*Check them out here... 
<http://www.smallfish.co.uk/shop/browse/?&aid=16012>*

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*
CV313 - Subtraktive
*
*
*A well deserved re-press for this classic Smallfish release. Slightly 
re-mastered I believe and sounding as wonderfully deep and expansive as 
ever, this is a great opportunity to snap it up if you missed the 
original 3" CDr release. It also comes with the unreleased Phase90 mix 
of Intrusion so that's a bit of a bonus! Great release and limited to 
500 copies.

*Check it out here... 
<http://www.smallfish.co.uk/shop/release/?cat=ECHOSPACE008>*

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*12x50 label restock - Jodi Cave / Douglas Benford / Alexander Wendt / 
Jasper Leyland

*I was really happy to discover that I could my hands on some restocks 
of the recent releases related to 12x50 and even more thrilled that 
there were a few copies of Jodi Caves Carbon release as well. Abstract, 
minimal and extremely impressive electronic sounds all round and well 
worth checking out if you've not heard them.

*Check them out here...
<http://www.smallfish.co.uk/shop/search.php?search=12x50>*

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Okay, so there you have it. I've put a few bargains up on the site at 
nice prices on the new releases pages so you'll probably find them if 
you have a scout around.

For now though, I'll leave you to your weekend and wish you all the 
best. 2 weeks until Christmas - will I get another mailout in before 
then? You bet!

Take care.

Peace.

Mike.

Smallfish.

Unit 2N, Leroy House | 436 Essex Road | London | N1 3QP | +44 [0] 20 
7288 2900 | www.smallfish.co.uk | mike at smallfish.co.uk 
<mailto:mike at smallfish.co.uk>
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