'The understated irony of the label's name is the essence of
its appeal....at the end of the day, it may just be music, but in this case
with the rare power to quietly shake the soul.' Pete Lawrence, Big Chill founder
Just Music, an independent music label in partnership with their
artists, opened its doors some 10 years
ago and is now label home to some of the very best artists in cutting edge
electronica, acoustic, ambient, downtempo and non-classical. This exclusive
compilation has been put together to introduce Linn customers to the Just Music
albums available to download through Linn in studio master quality.
The exclusive compilation features the following artists:
1. Jon Hopkins - Second Sense - from the incredible second album Contact Note by the Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2011 Album of the
Year and Ivor Novello nominee, classically trained composer, electronic artist,
producer, musical shapeshifter, Brian Eno and Coldplay collaborator Jon Hopkins. Jon's stunning debut album, Opalescent, is
also available through Linn.
'A truly magnificent record that deserves to rocket
Hopkins to great success and acclaim - beautifully melodic, haunting and
atmospheric - Contact Note is a sublime achievement and brings with it that
insatiable appetite for more. 5/5' The
Music Review
2. Laki Mera - How Dare You
from their hauntingly beautiful debut album ‘The
Proximity Effect'. Glaswegian quartet Laki Mera extend and weave beyond the expected confines of genre and
are defined only by themselves, their music born from a love of innovative,
technological exploration and organic artistry.
'Wonderful debut album....a
dense folktronic architecture with an intricacy and subtlety that recalls the
Blue Nile, Cocteau Twins and Portishead...a ghostly wall of extraordinary
emotional power.' The Sunday Times ****
3. Marconi Union - We Travel
- from their poetic, almost classical third album A Lost Connection, shaped around themes of
isolation and disconnection, inspired by images of withdrawal from the world, a
kind of inward journey in which desolation and remoteness are key
factors. Their fourth album Beautifully Falling Apart (Ambient Transmissions
Vol 1) is also now available through Linn.
'Minimal,
introspective, ethereal electronica...gorgeous.' The Guardian
4. Honeyroot - Nobody Loves
You The Way I Do - from their classic second album The Sun Will Come.
Honeyroot
contains
one of the true originators of the entire electronic genre, Glenn Gregory. This
record combines an intense energy with a calming ambience and is destined to
become a modern masterpiece. Their debut album, Sound Echo Location is also available through Linn.
'A
beautifully crafted record, part Morcheeba, part Zero 7, part Air, part
Royksopp...but this is in a different league. This has it's (honeyed) roots in
torch-song soul, romance and melodrama.' M8
5. Loner - Already Numb - from Western Sci-Fi, Loner's atmospheric
mysterious and beautiful second album, an album with reflective
and passionate melodies, restrained vocals and stunning piano
arrangements, a heartfelt expression of desolate pop. Loner's eponymous
debut album Loner will also be available soon through Linn.
'Tom Waits / Nick
Cave influences to build fuzzed-up moodscapes and poetic pop vignettes... very
original and in places quite exceptional.' DJ Magazine
6. Digitonal - 93 Years On
- from Save Your Light For Darker Days which fuses the
boundaries of both modern classical and electronic movements and is fast
becoming a seminal electronica classic, voted one of the top 20 electronica
albums in the last 20 years by US tastemaker station Echoes. Their 10 year
retrospective 'Be Still My Bleeping Heart" is also now available through
Linn.
'By
bridging classical composition in an experimental and cutting edge way, we're
gifted to listen to some of the most beautiful compositions that will last in
the memory for a long time.' Gigwise.com
7. Dan Arborise - Another Side
Of The Sky - from Dan's second album Of
Tide and Trail where Dan manifests his desire to pick up the mantle of
'folk singer for the 21st century' as critics dubbed him when ‘Around In Circles' (also now available
through Linn) took its first breaths. An album that burns with soft power, with
wave after wave of intense, psychedelic rhythms.
'A hugely atmospheric record thats gently
beguiling, with picked acoustic guitar layered to create ambient swathes of
sound that engage the head and melt the heart.' Clash
8. Laroca - La Glorieta
- from their lushly electronic second album Valley of the Bears. Laroca make music like nothing you've
ever quite heard before - a heady, uplifting mix of cinematic grooves, global
beats, chilled moods and exotic funk. Their debut album, Friends in Far
Away places will be available through Linn soon.
'Laroca have successfully made a really
fantastic record, a really cohesive and enjoyable ride through electronica and
globally influenced music that sits perfectly in the background or foreground
of your attention.' The Beat Surrender
9. Leo Abrahams - Come the
Morning - from the second solo album by
classically trained guitar experimentalist and Brian Eno collaborator Leo
Abrahams, The
Grape and The Grain, is a collection of tender
and melodic pieces exploring instrumental English folk music featuring Leo's
exceptional guitar playing with added strings and ethnic percussion. Leo's
first album, Honeytrap, will be available through Linn shortly.
'A musician of
amazing ability and perception. Unmissable.' Glasswerk
10 . Echaskech - The Calm - from Echaskech's effortlessly flowing second
album Shatterproof, which showcases their atmospheric and mesmerising
style where melodic dance beats blend with a beautiful spectrum of flavours and
redefines expectations of what an electronic album can achieve. Their first
album, Skechbook is also available through Linn.
'The immaculately crafted record slowly
reveals its layers...seeming to build on its own mystique in a compounding
fashion, each listening becoming more impressive than the last. In time
Shatterproof will be recognised as one of the most important electronic albums
of the '00s, every bit as much as Leftfield's Leftism is recognised as one of
the essentials of the 90s'.' Popmatters