With the release of the single "Play Me A Christmas Song", Stephen Dowd manages to bottle the very specific, blue-hued silence that falls over a living room once the wrapping paper has been cleared away. It is a curious thing, really, how a melody can act less like a sound wave and more like the smell of a candle that was blown out five...

Exploring the Evocative Sonic Landscape of the German Group Affentanz. German band Affentanz, influenced by Boards of Canada, has emerged from the underground of the electronic music industry and is progressively carving out a unique sound. The quartet, consisting of Martin W. Hillebrand, André Hartmann, Moritz Zielke, and Mike Schneider, brings to the stage an amalgamation of talent, diversity, and an unyielding passion for music. The origins...