Murcof's stunning Versailles Sessions has been getting some much deserved media attention. Among the more notable accomplishments Murcof made the cover of Italian music magazine Rockerilla (pictured above), was #43 on Wire's Record of the Year list, and has recieved reviews from Exclaim, Tinymixtapes and Almostcool.
Here are a few relevant web links:Tinymixtapes
Irishtimes.com
Exclaim.com
Thefourohfive.com
More on The Versailles Sessions:
"Fabulous...It brings nothing to mind so much as Vangelis in his Blade Runner mode, performing to Louis XIV" The Word
"it's freaking massive" Almost Cool
"impressive in its reach and seriousness" BBC Music
"sublime" **** Time Out
"a grand and elegant opus" Metro
“Corona’s exquisite touch, attention to detail and disarming sense of originality remain as haunting and beautiful as ever” 4/5 DJ
"an absolute pleasure" The Wire (#43 Record of the Year 2008)
"Corona’s work is becoming increasingly complex and fascinating, and this piece shows him at his most versatile and confident yet." 4.9/5 Album of the Month, themilkfactory
"Mind-blowing" 8/10 AU
Murcof
Cosmos
[Leaf; 2007]
Styles: musique concrète, electronic composition
Others: György Ligeti, JLIATOriginal review
The holiday season is here once again. Snow is settling quietly outside, stockings are being hung, kitchens are thick with the smell of mince pies. Lists are checked and gifts are bought: it's a time for giving, while we grind our teeth into a fine powder, dredging up the willpower to maintain selfless affection for three sanctioned weeks.
My December is being spent as usual: rounding up waifs and vagrants on the street and ushering them into my beautiful manor, where I can sing carols at them and wash their feet with my hair. After being invited into the dining hall for an afternoon meal, watching Wentworth lift the pewter covers from each platter, one of the little wretches piped in.
"What…what is that?"
The audacity! The cheek! The nerve of the boy! As I was uncovering my bejeweled walking stick to administer a beating the likes of which he would never forget, Wentworth began to describe what lay before them. "Cosmos, sir…" he began with a sneer.
"Drained from the melodic juices of previous works, Cosmos is left to bubble atop of a seething pan of sharp shards of metal, to be later buttered with a mechanical hum. It is then combined with the corpse of Hungarian composer György Ligeti and left on a light simmer, shucking the traditional use of samples for a variation of musique concrète, as organic sounds and original classical instruments are fed into the meal.
"We then make sure to thin all acoustic elements until they become an almost unrecognizable porridge of lock grooves and mathematical precision. Strings are layered overtop of a vast recess of humming silence: a conceptual interpretation of a cosmos that is occasionally sparked to life with the sloth-like passing of a pebble, curving with gravity, only to be plucked back into a black pool of space minutes later, leaving you to dip your toes into the sucking whirlpools of yet even more echoing silence. Once fully cooked in polytonal vibration, this is to be served as a giant, faceless black monolith. Not to be eaten, of course, but to stare down at you forebodingly until you begin to cry."
The look of doe-eyed panic befell them as they recoiled in terror and bolted in to the white afterglow of the frozen streets.
It's the same thing every year.
1. Cuerpo Celeste
2. Cielo
3. Cosmos - (I)
4. Cometa
5. Cosmos - (II)
6. Oort
by Cor Limey
AKRON/FAMILY Love Is Simple (Young God)
#09 Mojo Magazine top ten underground albums of 2007
#15 Treblezine.com top 50 albums of 2007
#18 "Ed is a Portal" - Treblezine.com top 50 songs of 2007
#80 Paste top 100 albums of 2007
NPR.org Top Ten Genre-Busting Records for 2007ANGELS OF LIGHT We Are Him (Young God)
#21 Tiny Mix Tapes best album covers of 2007
#49 Cokemachineglow.com top 50 albums of 2007
BEIRUT Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing!)
#01 The Mac Weekly 2007: the year in music
#01 Blog Beat top 5 albums of 2007
#02 Reformissionary best albums of 2007
#02 Muzzle Of Bees.com best albums of 2007
#02 BWANK! Blog top ten of 2007
#04 "The Penalty" - Coffeesnorter Blog best videos of the year
#04 Superb Live Blog best albums of 2007
#04 MP7 Blogas top albums of 2007
#05 Criminal Records Blog / Lillian bakers dozen for 2007
#06 Deaf Indie Elephants.com top 20 albums of 2007
#07 Lawrence.com
#07 March on Electric Children Blog top 15 albums of 2007
#09 Pitchfork guest list best of 2007: Rodrigo Gorky
#10 The Sky Report best of 2007 - album of the year
#11 “Flying Club Cup” - It Covers The Hillsides Blog top songs of 2007
#12 Stereogum.com Gummy Awards - best album of 2007
#12 Anyones Guess Blog 14 best favorite recommended albums of 2007
#14 “Guyamas Sonora” How's The Pie? Blog top 25 songs of 2007
#16 Chinese Restaurant In The Forest top 27 of 2007
#17 “The Penalty” - Gorilla Vs. Bear songs fo the year
#17 Musecology Blog the 30 albums - best of 2007
#19 MetaMusic top 50 albums of 2007
#20 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
#20 My Old Kentucky Blog: Dodge's favorite 50 albums of 2007
#22 NPR Listeners Pick the Year's Best CDs, From All Songs Considered
#25 Hate Something Beautiful. Com Best of 2007: Best Full-Length Albums
#26 Idolator.com top 50 albums of 2007
#26 Q Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#26 Bleep.com top 50 albums of 2007
#29 Lines Through Lines Blog top 30 albums of 2007
#36 Treblezine.com top 50 albums of 2007
#37 Uncut Magazine You Rate Uncut's 50 favourite albums of the year
#37 Drowned In Sound top 50 of 2007
#40 Pitchfork top 50 albums of 2007
#40 “Nates” - Propeller music mayhem: Considering the top albums of 2007
#44 Harp Magazine top 50 CDs of 2007
#48 “Nates” - Treblezine.com top 50 songs of 2007
#49 How's The Pie? Blog top 50 albums of 2007
#50 NME Year-End Critics' Polls '07
#58 PopMatters.com best albums of 2007
#65 Boomkat our favourite 100 albums for 2007!
#74 Paste top 100 albums of 2007
Best of 2007 - I'm Just Sayin Is All
The Essential Albums of 2007 - To Die By Your Side Blog
Daily Collegian - Collegian music critics present top albums of 2007
I Was Told There Would Be Bacon Blog top 20 albums of the year
Piccadilly Records top 30 albums of the year
Honorable mention top 25 albums of 2005 Otchster.com
Honorable mention Best of 2007 - AlphabeticalORDER
Honorable mention for top 7 albums of 2007 - MP3Wox.com
Honorable mention top albums of 2007 Sound on the Sound.com
Honorable mention favorite 20 albums of 2007 - Almostcool.org
Runner Up Favorite Albums of 2007 Extravaganza! - MusicWarship.com
“In The Mausoluem” You Set The scene Blog 2007 top ten songs
VASHTI BUNYAN Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind (DiCristina)
#05 Other Music top 25 reissues of the year
PATRICK CLEANDENIM Baby Come Home (Ba Da Bing!)
#17 Almostcool.org favorite 20 albums of 2007
COLLEEN Les Ondes Silenciuese (Leaf)
#21 Boomkat our favourite 100 albums for 2007
#41 The Wire Magazine Top 50 Albums of the year
#44 Stylus Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#50 Bleep.com top 50 albums of 2007
NPR.org Top Ten Genre-Busting Records for 2007
DEERHUNTER Cryptograms (Kranky)
#01 The Sky Report best of 2007 - album of the year
#03 Sam Fogarino of Interpol (via Filter)
#04 Mike McGonigal (yeti magazine)
#04 Paul Banks of Interpol (via Filter)
#04 Cole Alexander of Black Lips (via Filter)
#05 Tiny Mix Tapes favorite albums of 2007
#11 Drowned In Sound top 50 of 2007
#11 Criminal Records Blog / Lillian bakers dozen for 2007
#14 Pitchfork top 50 albums of 2007
#19 Treblezine.com top 50 albums of 2007
#21 The Wire Magazine Top 50 Albums of the year
#27 Boomkat our favourite 100 albums for 2007!
#31 Stereogum.com Gummy Awards - best album of 2007
#46 "Wash Off" - Pitchfork Top 100 Tracks of the Year Revealed
THE DRAGONS B.F.I. (Ninja Tune)
#29 Bleep.com top 50 albums of 2007
EFTERKLANG Parades (Leaf)
#23 Mojo Magazine Class of 2007
#24 Drowned In Sound top 50 of 2007
FIELD MUSIC Tones of Town (Memphis Industries)
#02 Lines Through Lines Blog top 30 albums of 2007
#17 Mojo Magazine Class of 2007
#29 Drowned In Sound top 50 of 2007
#38 Cokemachineglow.com top 50 albums of 2007
#40 Stereogum.com Gummy Awards - best album of 2007
#40 Q Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#40 Idolator.com top 50 albums of 2007
#66 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
DANIEL HIGGS Ancestral Songs (Holy Mountain)
#03 Mojo Magazine top ten underground albums of 2007
JANA HUNTER There's No Home (Gnomonsong)
#34 “Babies” - Gorilla vs. Bear songs of 2007
#38 Boomkat our favourite 100 albums for 2007!
#98 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
ESSIE JANE We Made This Ourselves (Ba Da Bing!)
#12 “Glory” - Little Boy's Choir Blog 2007 Opinion List: Favorite Tracks
KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW What Is? (In The Red)#33 Pitchfork top 50 albums of 2007
LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver (DFA)
#01 Uncut Magazine You Rate Uncut's 50 favourite albums of the year
#01 Stylus Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#01 Drowned In Sound top 50 of 2007
#01 Piccadilly Records top 30 albums of the year
#01 "All My Friends" - Pitchfork Top 100 Tracks of the Year Revealed
#01 Guardian picks of the year 2007's best albums
#02 Pitchfork top 50 albums of 2007
#02 Amazon.com Best of 2007: Top 100 Editors' Picks
#02 Exclaim! Magazine Frequencies: Year in Review 2007
#02 The Sky Report best of 2007 - album of the year
#02 Rhapsody Blog Best of 2007: Electronic/Dance
#02 “All My Friends” - Treblezine.com top 50 songs of 2007
#03 How's The Pie? Blog top 50 albums of 2007
#03 PopMatters.com best albums of 2007
#03 PopMatters.com 10 best Electronic albums of 2007
#03 “Us Vs Them” PROPELLER - Music mayhem: Considering the top albums of 2007
#03 "Someone Great” - Treblezine.com top 50 songs of 2007
#03 Fact Magazine the 20 best albums of 2007
#04 Chinese Restaurant In The Forest top 27 of 2007
#04 "Someone Great” - Clash Magazine top 20 tracks of 2007
#04 Treblezine.com top 50 albums of 2007
#05 Mojo Magazine Class of 2007
#05 Rough Trade Shops top 10 albums of 2007
#05 Time Magazine top 10 albums
#05 Musecology Blog the 30 albums - best of 2007
#05 The Wire Magazine Top 50 Albums of the year
#06 Tiny Mix Tapes favorite albums of 2007
#06 Stereogum.com Gummy Awards - best album of 2007
#07 You Set The scene Blog 2007 top ten albums
#07 "Someone Great" - Pitchfork Top 100 Tracks of the Year Revealed
#07 Entertainment Weekly.com best albums of the year
#08 Los Angels Times / Ann Powers top ten albums of 2007
#09 Muzzle Of Bees.com best albums of 2007
#09 Almostcool.org favorite 20 albums of 2007
#10 "Someone Great” - Delusions of Adequacy10 favorite songs from the year
#11 NME Year-End Critics' Polls '07
#12 Hate Something Beautiful. Com Best of 2007: Best Full-Length Albums
#13 NPR Listeners Pick the Year's Best CDs, From All Songs Considered
#13 "Someone Great” - Gorilla vs. Bear songs of 2007
#15 Reformissionary best albums of 2007
#18 Idolator.com top 50 albums of 2007
#18 Q Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#22 Paste Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#33 Cokemachineglow.com top 50 albums of 2007
THE LODGER Grown-Ups (Slumberland Records)
#62 Amazon.com Best of 2007: Top 100 Editors' Picks
MAMMATUS The Coast Explodes (Holy Mountain)
#8 Casey Rae-Hunter -Dusted Magazine
MATTHEW DEAR Deserter (Ghostly International)
#07 Fact Magazine the 20 best albums of 2007
#08 Clash Magazine Top 10 Leftfield Albums of The Year
#10 CMJ RPM charts
#35 Treblezine.com top 50 albums of 2007
#38 "Deserter " - Pitchfork Top 100 tracks of the year revealed
#45 Mojo Magazine Class of 2007
#48 How's The Pie? Blog top 50 albums of 2007
#77 Amazon.com Best of 2007: Top 100 Editors' Picks
"Elementary Lover" - Entertainment Weekly best songs of the year list
Nominated for a Plug Award - Electronic Album of The Year
Pitchfork - Named on multiple staff members Individual Track lists with "Deserter" and "Asa Breed"
MELT BANANA Bambi's Dilemma (A-Zap)
#17 Decibel Magazine top 40 for 2007
MURCOF Cosmos (Leaf)
#05 The Wire Magazine Electronica genre of the year
Honorable mention favorite 20 albums of 2007 - Almostcool.org
NEUROSIS Given To The Rising (Neurot Recordings)
#03 Pitchfork guest list best of 2007: Bruce Lamont, Yakuza
#05 Allmusic Blog favorite metal albums of 2007
#06 Revolver Magazine Top 20 for 2007
#06 Decibel Magazine Top 40 for 2007
#09 PopMatters.com 20 best metal albums of 2007
Nominated for a PLUG Award for Best Metal Album of 2007
PAPERCUTS Can't Go Back (Gnomonsong)
#05 BWANK! Blog top ten of 2007
#05 Pitchfork guest list best of 2007: Beach House
#44 My Old Kentucky Blog: Dodge's favorite 50 albums of 2007
#75 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
PINK REASON Cleaning the Mirror (Siltbreeze)
#15 Tiny Mix Tapes favorite albums of 2007
POP LEVI Return To Form Black Magick Party (Ninja Tune)
#15 March on Electric Children Blog top 15 albums of 2007
PYLON Gyrate (DFA)
#03 Other Music top 25 reissues of the year
JAY REATARD Blood Visions (In The Red)
#9 Other Music's Top 25 albums of the yearRIO EN MEDIO Bride of Dynamite (Gnomonsong)NPR.org Top Ten Genre-Busting Records for 2007
SONIC YOUTH Daydream Nation 4XLP box set (Smells Like Records)
#05 Popmatters.com best reissues of 2007
#05 Mojo Magazine top ten reissues of the year
STARS OF LID And Their Refinement Of The Decline (Kranky)
#10 Cokemachineglow.com top 50 albums of 2007
#12 Almostcool.org favorite 20 albums of 2007
#33 Stylus Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#43 Pitchfork top 50 albums of 2007
STRATEGY Future Rock (Kranky)
#14 The Wire Magazine Top 50 Albums of the year
#45 Stylus Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
MARK SULTAN Sultanic Verses (In The Red)
#89 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
THEE MORE SHALLOWS Book of Bad Breaks (Anticon)
#5 Beth Lisick's 2007 Pick for the SF Weekly
TIMES NEW VIKING Present the Paisley Reich (Siltbreeze)
#53 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
#96 "Teenage Lust!" - Pitchfork Top 100 tracks of the year revealed
TORCHE In Return (Robotic Empire)
#09 Exclaim! Magazine Aggressive Tendencies: Year in Review 2007
#34 Decibel Magazine Top 40 for 2007
VALET Blood Is Clean (Kranky)
#01 Mike McGonigal (yeti magazine)
#08 Boston Citypaper
VENETIAN SNARES My Downfall (Original Soundtrack) (Planet Mu)
#30 Bleep.com top 50 albums of 2007
LUKE VIBERT & JEAN-JACQUES PERREY Moog Acid (Planet Mu)
#36 Bleep.com top 50 albums of 2007
WHITE WILLIAMS Smoke (Tigerbeat6)
#11 Chinese Restaurant In The Forest top 27 of 2007
#49 “Violator” - Gorilla vs. Bear songs of 2007
#49 The Sky Report best of 2007 - album of the year
#71 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
WHY? The Hollows EP (Anticon)
#13 Daniel Levin Becker Dusted Magazine
WOODEN SHJIPS Shjips S/t (Holy Mountain)
#03 David Frick / Rolling Stone top 5 albums of 2007
#04 Piccadilly Records top 30 albums of the year
#07 Rough Trade Shops Top 10 Albums of 2007
#43 The WIRE Magazine 50 Best albums of 2007
WOODS At Rear House (Shrimper)#94 Boomkat our favourite 100 albums for 2007!
Murcof
Cosmos
(Leaf)
Original review
I remembered listening to tracks from Cosmos as far back as last year on Fernando Corona's website. That work seemed a bit different than his other music to date, and at the time it was going to be released as an EP of some sort. Time passed, though, and Corona (aka Murcof) expanded upon the pieces he had created, eventually coming up with enough work for a new full-length album. Those newer pieces continued in this more expansive vein, and although there are still hints of his earlier micro-sound movements in this massive six-song release, Cosmos truly finds him moving someplace new entirely.
There are a lot of comparisons that one could draw when listening to this newest release from Murcof. Everything from the massive orchestral and electronic compositions of Johann Johannsson to the classical stylings of György Ligeti and even the deep slabs of ambience by Stars Of The Lid. The micro-programmed beats are still there in places, but they've been toned back and refined to fit within the slightly different sound. "Cuerpo Celeste" opens the release, and makes it pretty apparent that things aren't going to be the same. Unfolding over nine minutes, it sets some quiet string pulses over deep-space drones and a couple dots of chimes. As it progresses, the string flourishes build over the expansive space, eventually expanding with melodic swells that incorporate organ, low-bass rumbles, timpani crashes and ghostly choruses.
Tracks like "Cielo" and "Cometa" are a lot closer to work on Remembraza and Utopia, but both of them grown with a sort of slow-burning intensity that wasn't quite as apparent on past efforts. The latter is particularly effective, with crackling waves of feedback that slither through the string and piano touched track, always keeping it on edge as it unfurls with gorgeous melodic swells. The two-part album-titled tracks are where the album really separates itself, though. "Cosmos I" opens with just a flickering of deep space radio wave chatter, but by halfway through has turned into a monolith of a song, blending filtered strings, organ, vocals, and other elements into something almost doom-worthy. "Cosmos II" uses many of the same building blocks, and without being a complete reprise manages to keep the crushing mood going.
It should come as a relief, then, that album closer "Oort" is probably the more sparse pieces on the album, running almost thirteen minutes while shifting through several mini-suites, with a couple dying string moans that give the sound of a last-gasp attempt at contact with human life. Among his best work to date, Cosmos finds Corona expanding his boundaries even more and in the process creating something more timeless. As with all his releases, it's absolutely immaculately produced, and with upcoming colder temperatures, I imagine it will be in even more heavy rotation.
rating: 8
Murcof's stunning Versailles Sessions has been getting some much deserved media attention. Among the more notable accomplishments Murcof made the cover of Italian music magazine Rockerilla (pictured above), was #43 on Wire's Record of the Year list, and has recieved reviews from Exclaim, Tinymixtapes and Almostcool. 
