Do Make Say Think - Classic Noodlanding (Live, 2002)

Beautiful, rolling postrock grooving.

Utterly beguiling instrumental, jazz trumpet-tinged post rock from Do Make Say Think from the heady, post-Godspeed You! Black Emporer days on Constellation Records.

A tidy drum pattern kicks things off, leaving lots of space for guitar patterns and trumpet to weave in and out. A low slung bass underpins the groove and the track gracefully unwinds, ensnaring you with gentle twists and turns.

Download Do Make Say Think 'Classic Noodlanding (Live 2002)' (Post Rock mp3, Constellation) (Divshare)

Eric Chenaux - Amazing Backgrounds (Constellation mp3, 2012)

Gorgeous, plaintive, dusty beauty with some Fripp-y guitar.

Eric Chenaux coaxes a strangled violin-like sound to open this track but his voice comes in, calming and a soothing against soft tones.

'Amazing Backgrounds' is reminiscent of David Sylvian's work with Robert Fripp on 'Gone To Earth' and is a thing of great beauty taking Constellation into new territory.

Chenaux's guitar weaving guitar comes back to take the song to a close, creating a mood of desert desolation.

Download Eric Chenaux 'Amazing Backgrounds' (Constellation mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Hanged Up 'Klang Klang' (Constellation, 2005)

Rhythmic genius that mimics the tyranny of the machine on viola and drums. Industrial but not in a Throbbing Gristle kind of way.

I remember stumbling across Hanged Up on a bill that also featured Constellation's Polmo Polpo. Their furious storm of drums and effects-heavy viola was utterly compelling leading me to their intense and brooding albums.


'Klang Klang' is exactly that. An alternative soundtrack to the bit in 'Modern Times' where Charlie Chaplin falls into the guts of the tyrannical machine. Try it for yourself.

Download Hanged Up 'Klang Klang' (post rock mp3 download) (via cstrecords.com)

Constellation Records 2011 Sampler (13 Tracks inc Tindersticks)

Generous sampler of 2011 releases from the mighty Constellation label.

Constellation has evolved from just being Godspeed You! Black Emporer's label with a few (admittedly awesome) postrock luminaries alongside - Fly Pan Am, Do Make Say Think, Sofa...

This showcase of 13 tracks from their 2011 releases includes tracks from Tindersticks Claire Denis soundtrack box, former Godspeed/Silver Mt Zion man Efrim Manuel Menuck, delight chamber music of Esmerine, Colin Stetson's twisted jazz and more besides.

Happy christmas.

Tracklisting:
01 SANDRO PERRI - Love & Light
02 PAT JORDACHE - Phantom Limb
03 SISKIYOU - Twigs and Stones
04 COLIN STETSON - The Stars in His Head (Dark Lights Remix)
05 EVANGELISTA - Artificial Lamb
06 EFRIM MANUEL MENUCK - Our Lady Of Parc Extension...
07 MATANA ROBERTS - Pov Piti
08 ESMERINE - Walking Through Mist
09 TINDERSTICKS - Children's Theme (White Material)
10 SISKIYOU - Always Awake *
11 SANDRO PERRI - Love & Light (Max Gross Remix) *
12 EFRIM MANUEL MENUCK - Carpenter's Orphan *
13 TINDERSTICKS - Le Rallye (Vendredi Soir)

Download Constellation 2011 sampler (alternative, post rock, soundtrack mp3 downloads) (via cstrecords.com)

Polmo Polpo 'Kiss Me Again And Again (TRNWRD Edit)' (Intr.Version, 2005)

Seemingly never-ending alternative disco magic version of the Arthur Russell track.

Polmo Polpo were previously known - to me, anyway - as airy, post-rockers on the Constellation label. This heads-down, locked-groove homage to Arthur Russell is something of a mind-blower. It brings Can's Krautrock disco (mp3) sensibility to the proceedings.

'Kiss Me Again And Again' is akin to the subdued, exploratory disco of Chic's production work - see Shiela B. Devotion's 'Spacer' (mp3) or Loose Joints' 'Is It All Over My Face'. A disco inside your head.

Like all great long records, it shifts subtly, mutating imperceptibly but changing the emphasis. It features locked-in guitars, precise drums, tight bass and percussion with cello and drones moving in and out of focus over the course of the track. It is magical.

I've edited out the closing seven minutes for you here so as not to discourage you from buying the full, unadulterated twenty-one-and-a-half minute version which is still available to buy from Intr.Version or to download from Alien8.

Download Polmo Polpo 'Kiss Me Again And Again (TRNWRD Edit)' (alternative disco mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Listening Post - Esmerine 'La Lechuza' (Constellation, 2011)

Epic, ornate post-rock/modern classical hybrid from alumni of Godspeed You! Black Emporer, A Silver Mt Zion and Set Fire To Flames.

'La Lechuza' is the first Esmerine release since 2005 and the first to be released on Constellation. It's a beautifully poised record comprising strings, piano, harp and a host of elegant arrangements.

Tracklist:
A Dog River
Walking Through Mist
Last Waltz
Trampolin   
Snow Day For Lhasa
Sprouts
Little Streams Make Big Rivers
Au Crepuscule, Sans Laisse
Fish On Land 



La Lechuza - ESMERINE by Constellation Records