Disquiet

Kettel’s “prairieplant 2,” like much of what appears as part of the kracfive.com monthly free download series (aka its “MP3 Rotor”), suggests a kind of modern exotica. Its woodblock percussion and sweet single-note piano line come across like analog derivations of modern digital pop (MP3). When a plucked string section arrives, also delighting in pizzicato and reminiscent of Sunday-afternoon Aphex Twin, the result is the audio equivalent of a hand-quilted ASCII drawing.

One of the most prolific musicians in a realm already not particularly well known for its constipation, avant figure Koji Asano has been steadily supplementing his commercial release schedule with a flow of free downloads, ranging from brief sketches, to alternate mixes, to lengthy live takes. Initially these were weekly, but now they’re popping up intermittently. Given the vastness of Asano’s catalog, a little self-editing is probably in the listener’s interest.

One recent highlight, dating from April, is titled “Safety Box,” in which a deeply echoed piano line, just a beat-keeping tone, provides a sound bed for cat-scratch strings. Eventually the piano itself is treated, lending it a rough texture that ends the work with a sense of formal cohesion. Perhaps as a result, the 15-minute work is surprisingly sedative, despite its inherent abrasiveness (M4A; Asano’s downloads are available as massive “lossless” files the week of their release and as more compact M4A files, playable in iTunes and other services, thereafter). More info at kojiasano.com.

Clark, formerly Chris Clark, has apparently gotten the sort of digital-to-analog conversion previously applied by Alarm Will Sound to Clark’s fellow Warp Records roster-mate, Aphex Twin. Or at least something that sounds like it.

The forthcoming Body Riddle, due out the first week of October, opens with “Herr Bar,” as did his Throttle Furniture EP from earlier this year. But whereas the Throttle version of “Herr Bar” was slo-mo, latter-day jungle, rich with computerized percussives, the Riddle “Herr Bar” (to which is appended the parenthetical “Reinterpretation / Improvisation”) appears to be more “acoustic” in nature. A collaboration with another Warp act, Broadcast, this revised “Herr Bar” is fuller and richer, featuring chimes and, possibly, bowed instrumentation. (Of course, Alarm Will Sound was a full contemporary-classical ensemble whereas this new “Herr Bar” seems to be a studio concoction, but it still has a very “live” sound. Perhaps all the elements are still sampled.)

And for the time being at least, the “reinterpretation” of “Herr Bar” is available for free download (MP3). Better yet, it’s the first of three pre-release MP3s that Warp and Clark are posting at throttleclark.com. September 4 is when the second MP3 becomes available. September 18 is the date for the third and final MP3.

At least one other track title is common between both Throttle and the forthcoming Riddle, “Frau Wav.” They can be compared at the albums’ respective webpages at the music retail site bleep.com (Riddle, Throttle). More info at throttleclark.com, myspace.com/throttleclark, broadcast.uk.net and warprecords.com.