matthew bower: drone, yes. not heard ' em. reference points? similars?
― bob snoom, Sunday, 8 June 2003 15:30 (twenty-two years ago)
I've got...I think...two albums by them (had some initial problems with my order from Eclipse). I'd need to listen to them again to be a true judge but I recall being pleased in a floaty zone sorta way -- certainly a lot less "I crush your cranium" than Skullflower ever was. I gather the name is because Bower wanted it to be his joke Japanoise band project or something.
Funnily enough, I was reviewing some of my Skullflower albums today...
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 8 June 2003 17:31 (twenty-two years ago)
yeah, hototogisu is the stuff - they have three releases that i'm aware of at the moment:
_white wind of autumn_ cdr (rural electrification program)
_cuckoo cloudland_ lp (de stijl)
_floating japanese oof!/hair gardens..._
_white wind_ is the best in my opinion - shimmering drones like sunroof but even more mellow, with a kind of cheerful quality about it (including the use of toy instruments). incidentally, the song titles here seem to give away immediately that it's a matt bower project.
_cuckoo cloudland_ is a less playful release, a little more towards sunroof! in their mellow mode (like _temple music_, _slipstream_) but still with a distinctive sound and with each track being distinct from the rest.
_floating japanese hair/oof! gardens_ is a double-cd release and is probably the least interesting hototogisu release to me, both discs are essentially long tracks of minimal instrumentation and there's little variation.
ned, have you heard that new skullflower album (_exquisite fucking boredom_)? it actually sounds like skullflower with sunroof! production and instrumentation - that really shitty drum machine, fr'instance. hell, the title's even taken from a sunroof! song.
― your null fame (yournullfame), Sunday, 8 June 2003 22:44 (twenty-two years ago)
I knew that something was about to come out but not that it was available, hm. The one Hototogisu I'm missing is the LP. I'm waiting for the rumoured Skullflower single/rarity comp on Tumult...
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 9 June 2003 00:03 (twenty-two years ago)
"exquisite fucking boredom" is on tumult - it's even dated 2002 but it doesn't seem to be out yet, i got a copy to review for my station. i hope it comes out soon, else my almost complete skullflower collection will remain less complete than it could be.
also, this page about the non-skullflower type of hototogisu is neat.
― your null fame (yournullfame), Monday, 9 June 2003 02:32 (twenty-two years ago)
one year passes...
did anyone get the "ghosts of the sun" double cdr? i've been hearing that it's the most amazing shit. can anyone confirm/deny/copy?
― jwd, Wednesday, 1 December 2004 07:01 (twenty years ago)